Kopi Luwak proteolytic enzymes which break down the beans' proteins, yielding shorter peptides and more free amino acids. The proteins also undergo non-enzymatic Maillard browning reactions in the later roasting process. Moreover, while inside a civet the beans begin to germinate by malting which also lowers their bitterness. Marcone also conducted an analysis on the volatile compounds which are responsible for the coffee's flavour and aroma, showing that there are significant differences from regular coffee. He concluded that: According to Dr. Davila Cortes, the altered protein structure degrades the effectiveness of the coffee as a diuretic. Few objective assessments of taste are
Small-toothed palm civet Small-toothed palm civet The small-toothed palm civet ("Arctogalidia trivirgata"), also known as the three-striped palm civet, is a palm civet. It lives in dense forests of southeast Asia, from the Assam district of India to Indochina and the Malay Peninsula and on Sumatra, Bangka, Java, Borneo, and numerous small nearby islands of Indonesia. A monotypic genus, "Arctogalidia" means ‘bear-weasel’ (from ancient Greek "arkto-" ‘bear’ + "galidia" ‘little weasel’). The specific epithet "trivirgata" means ‘three-striped’ in Latin. The small-toothed palm civet is mid-sized by the standards of its family, weighing 2.4 kg (5.3 lbs) and measuring 53 cm (21 in) long