Geographic determination of the growing origins of Jamaican and international coffee using instrumental neutron activation analysis and other methods

This study was undertaken to determine whether elemental analysis could distinguish the growing origins of Jamaican versus international coffee and identify intra-island growing regions. Twenty-four samples of roasted and ground coffee and soluble coffee were collected and analysed using instrumental neutron activation analysis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Sixteen elements were selected for statistical evaluation. Soluble clustered discretely from roasted and ground samples. The distinction among roasted and ground samples was not as discrete. Geographic growing regions could be determined by statistical analysis; separating the growing sub-regions in Jamaica would require additional analyses.