Coffee Plants in General

Coffee Plants in General
The coffee plant belongs to the genus Coffea in the Rubiaceae botanical family. Although there are numerous species, only two of them are used for cultivation world-wide: Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora. Coffea robusta is a variety of Coffea canephora. Coffea excelsa, cultivated in Central Africa, is one of the numerous varieties of Coffea dewevrei; its total production is much smaller than that of the previously cited species. The height of adult coffee ranges from one foot to fifty feet, depending on the species. There are numerous varieties of Coffea arabica, which originated in Ethiopia. This coffee grows at altitude between 3,250 – 6,500 feet in Latin America, Reunion Island, and in Indonesia; this species represents 75% of coffee production world wide. Coffea canephora, second in production, is mainly in Africa and Indonesia. The most variety is robusta (95% of plantations of Coffea canephora). It is cultivated in Africa (West Africa, Uganda, Angola, South Africa, etc.) in the Far East (India, Indonesia, Philippines), in the South Sea Islands (New Caledonia) and in Brazil in regions where arabica cannot be grown because of climatic conditions.

The trunk of the coffee tree is straight and smooth, it branch hang low and slope downwards, the leaves are green, elongated and non deciduous. White blossoms (fragrant star shaped flowers that last only a few days) along with green, yellowing or red fruit coexist on the same branch. The fruit looks like cherries; it contains two seeds that will become coffee beans.

Arabica coffee beans are oval and long with a subtle taste and fruit like aroma while robusta beans are smaller, round, irregular and have a stringer taste. The word drupe is the technical term use to designate the fruit. It matures in six to fourteen months, depending on the variety. The fruit is covered by a very tough skill like, smooth red film called the epicarp. It covers the mesocarp which contains mostly water (70 to 85%) and has a high concentration of sugar and pectin. The mesocarp represents to 40 – 65% of fruit’s weight, depending on the variety. The bean is formed of a horn like albumin (the endosperm) made up of starch, lipids, reducing sugars, sucrose, tannins, caffeine and 20% of water. Two envelops covers the endosperm, internal: spermoderm, external: endocarp.
Coffee Plants in General