Properties of coffee beans

Coffee beans come from the coffee plant of Coffea arabica Linn. The tree bears clusters of small, red, cherry like fruit which contain two seed. The Arabica beans are generally oval in shape, have a pronounced centre crease and are larger than Robusta beans.

Once the beans are ripe and ready for picking, they will turn red in color. The fleshy berries are harvested almost continuously.

In the seeds, caffeine is present as a salt of chlorogenic acid (CGA). Also it contains oil and wax. Green coffee contained about 6–7% of sucrose as soluble sugars and low amount of glucose.

Depending on the growing region, the whole fruits are either sundried or they are allowed a short period of fermentation after which the pulp is removed from the greenish-yellow seed.

Before a cup of coffee is made, the coffee beans will undergo roasting, grinding, packing and transporting processes.

The quality of coffee used for beverages is strictly related to the chemical composition of the roasted beans, which is affected by the composition of the green beans and post-harvesting processing conditions (drying, storage, roasting and grinding).
Properties of coffee beans