Coffee bean

Roasted Coffee beans.

A coffee bean is the seed of the coffee plant (the pit inside the red or purple fruit). The fruits, coffee cherries or coffee berries, most commonly contain two stones with their flat sides together. Coffee beans consist mostly of endosperm that contains 0.8 - 2.5 % caffeine, which is one of the main reasons the plants are cultivated. As coffee is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages, coffee beans are a major cash crop, and an important export product for some countries.

Origin Coffee is originated from Ethiopia in the province of Keffa which is found at the south west of the country.

Etymology

The name 'coffee' deriven from the name of [bird] called ceffi by the native people, and the name of province itself where it was found from [Keffa] the people who live in this province are called kefficho. Arabic language (قهوة qahwa - "coffee" and bunn - "berry"). The name bean is not botanically accurate as the Coffee plant is not a member of the Fabaceae family, nor does it form a pod.

Types

Species of coffee plant include Coffea arabica, Coffea benghalensis, Coffea canephora, Coffea congensis, Coffea excelsa, Coffea gallienii, Coffea bonnieri, Coffea mogeneti, Coffea liberica, and Coffea stenophylla. The seeds of different species produce coffee with slightly different characteristics.

Coffea arabica accounts for about 75% of the world's coffee trade, while Coffea canephora (syn. Coffea robusta) is cultivated where Coffea arabica does not thrive, and Coffea liberica and Coffea excelsa are grown in limited areas across the globe.

In a crop of coffee, a small percentage of cherries contain a single bean, instead of the usual two. This is called a peaberry.

Processing

Further information: Processing of coffee

Coffee beans are removed from the coffee cherries or fruit, which is either discarded as waste or used as fertilizer.

Gallery

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  Roasted coffee beans
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  Coffee cherries on coffee plant (Coffea arabica)
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  Structure of coffee berry and beans: 1: center cut 2:bean (endosperm) 3: silver skin (testa, epidermis), 4: parchment (hull, endocarp) 5: pectin layer 6: pulp (mesocarp) 7: outer skin (pericarp, exocarp)]]