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coffee bean heading coffee bean

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. The berries themselves are edible. They are very sweet, with a texture somewhat like a grape.

The name derives from the Arabic language (qahwa - "coffee" and bunn - "berry"). The name bean is not botanically accurate as it is the seed of a fruit not a vegetable.

Image Source: www.yarramalong.com

bean structure

Parts of the Coffee Bean

  1. Center Cut
  2. Bean (endosperm)
  3. Silver Skin
  4. Parchment
  5. Pectin Layer
  6. Pulp
  7. Outer Skin

Image Source: Wikipedia

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. Most commercial companies use primarily arabica and robusta in their blends.

Source: Wikipedia

Beans
Regions Grown | The Plant | Harvesting | Drying and Roasting