Botanical Name Of Coffee

May 26, 2023, 16:45 IST

If you are looking for the Botanical Name of Coffee, you have come to the right place!

The topic “Botanical Name of Coffee” will be covered in this article. Coffea is the scientific name for coffee (genus). There are other species in the genus, but only Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora are grown for their ability to produce coffee. About 60–80% of the coffee made worldwide comes from Coffea arabica, whereas 20–40% comes from Coffea canephora.

Despite having less caffeine than Coffea canephora, Coffea arabica is typically chosen for its sweeter flavor. Both species are native to Sub-Saharan Africa's central and western regions. Coffea canephora is less prone to disease than C. arabica and has a higher bitterness and lower acidity.

This article will discuss the cultivation, production, species, processing, advantages, and disadvantages of coffee.

Introduction

Native to tropical and southern Africa as well as tropical Asia, coffee plants are shrubs or tiny trees. Coffea beans are the seeds of several species used to flavor various products and beverages. Like the seeds, the fruits have a distinctively sweet flavor, and a lot of caffeine, and are usually juiced. One of the world's most valuable and widely traded commodity crops, the plant is a significant export for many nations, including those in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Also, check - Biome Definition

Coffee is a beverage produced from roasted coffee beans. Coffea is a dark-colored, bitter, and slightly acidic beverage that stimulates individuals primarily due to its caffeine content.

Botanical Description of Coffea Arabica

Coffea Arabica is the name of the coffee plant. It is Coffea Arabica, and it may be found everywhere. The Coffea Arabica bean is widely cultivated, vulnerable to pests, and fragile. Coffea Arabica needs a subtropical climate to flourish. It is a fragrant, flavorful, and light coffee. Robusta coffee beans, the most popular kind of the Robusta family, are distinct from Arabica coffee beans.

Also, check - Composition of Blood and its Functions

The subtropical coffee bean known as arabica does well in chilly weather. It can be found between 2000 and 6500 feet above sea level. The two regions in the world that produce the most Coffea Arabica and other varieties of coffee beans are Latin America and Eastern Africa. There are two continents: Asia and Arabia. Every excellent bean requires a particular atmosphere in order to flourish. Arabica requires plenty of sunlight and cover. In contrast to Arabica, Robusta can grow at lower elevations, from sea level to 2000 feet.

Also, check - Botanical Name Of Banyan Tree

Types of Coffee

Around the world, there are more than 100 different species of coffee plants. Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (Robusta) are the two most popular coffee species.

• Compared to Coffee arabica, which has a richer, sweeter flavor, Robusta has more caffeine.
• The lower elevations roughly 2000 feet above sea level are where the Robusta coffee is grown. Arabica, on the other hand, grows at elevations between 2000 and 6,500 feet. It grows in the subtropics. It thrives most effectively in frigid weather. Both ample sunlight and shade are necessary.
• The leading Arabica growers are in Eastern Africa and Latin America (and other types of coffee beans around the world). Freezing temperatures are intolerable to coffee plants.
• After three to five years after planting, the coffee Arabica tree begins to bear fruit. These plants have a 50–60 year economic life span, which is exceptionally long. Some plants have a lifespan of almost a century. In roughly 9 months, the coffee fruit ripens.

Cultivation and Production of Coffee

At the start of the rainy season, 20 seeds are inserted into each hole according to custom. Since around half of the seeds don't sprout using this procedure, they lose about 50% of their potential. Brazil uses a more productive method of cultivating coffee: raising seedlings in nurseries before planting them outdoors six to twelve months later. As farmers grow accustomed to its requirements during the first few years of production, coffee is frequently intercropped with other crops like corn, beans, or rice. Brazil accounted for 39% of the total global production of green coffee beans in 2020, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia, with 175,647,000 60-kilogram bags of production. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of coffee, making over 15% of global exports in 2019.

Species of Coffee

Insect pests of coffee plantations have been identified in over 900 species across the globe. More than a third of these are beetles, and more than a quarter are insects. The crop is also attacked by over twenty species of worms, nine species of mites, and several snail and slug species.

In comparison to invertebrates, birds and rodents occasionally consume coffee berries, but their effects are minimal. Arabica is typically the species that are more vulnerable to total invertebrate predation. Different animals attack the coffee plant in different ways. More than 100 different kinds of butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars) attack the foliage, nematodes attack the roots, and coffee borer beetles tunnel into stems and other woody materials.

The most harmful insect pest to the global coffee business is the 2-mm-long coffee borer beetle (Hypothenemus hamper), which kills up to 50% or more of the coffee berries on plantations in most coffee-producing nations.

Processing of Coffee

Coffee is among the most consumed beverages worldwide.The fact that coffee contains more caffeine than the majority of organically produced liquids, including tea and chocolate, has been said to make it so appealing.

• Planting

In reality, coffee beans are seeds. They can only be used to brew the simple zip after they have been dried, roasted, and ground. Unprocessed coffee seeds can sprout and develop into coffee plants if they are planted.The seeds are often planted in big, shaded beds. The immature seedlings are transferred to individual pots with specially designed soils after sprouting and given a few days to grow.

• Harvesting

Newly planted coffee bushes typically take 3–4 years to bear fruit, depending on the varietal. The fruit, sometimes known as cherries, changes from green to bright or dark red depending on how ripe it is; immature cherries remain green in color. Lower altitudes and hotter temperatures hasten the ripening of cherries.

People can manually harvest coffee to guarantee that only the ripe cherries are taken. Hand-picking cherry requires thorough inspection for maturity, a complex and labor-intensive operation that, unsurprisingly, requires payment for labor.

• Cherry Processing

Cherry processing begins as soon as they are harvested to prevent spoiling. The following two approaches are used, depending on the area and available resources.

• The Dry Method: This traditional method of preparing cherries is still used in areas lacking water. This approach is called"natural" or "unwashed" processing. Small-scale farm owners typically employ the dry approach.
• The Wet Method: This technique is very recent for de-skinning coffee cherries. Because water is used to transport the coffee fruit through the process and remove the beans, it is known as a "wet" procedure. Like the dry process, the wet method entails cleaning the cherry and discarding any overripe or underripe.

• Coffee Milling Process

The dried coffee beans are treated as follows before being sold: Hulling entails removing the endocarp, mesocarp, and exocarp of parchment coffee.Some millers skip the optional step of polishing the coffee. It involves removing any silver skin that might have been obtained through the hulling process. Beans that have been polished are thought to be of higher quality than those that have not.

• Coffee Tasting Process

To further assess and characterize the taste and quality of the packed coffee, it is tasted several times. The procedure, called capping, is carried out in a particular room created to facilitate it. The provenance of the coffee can be determined by tasting it. You shouldn't be intimidated by the process because anyone can participate.

• Coffee Roasting

Green coffee beans are unroasted coffee beans that have all the flavors preserved in them. The goal of roasting is to turn green coffee beans into the flavorful brown beans you can buy in your favorite stores. The green coffee beans are continuously turned during roasting, which takes place at temperatures of about 550F, to prevent burning.

• Coffee Grinding

The basic goal of a grind is to produce a tasty cup of coffee. How fine or coarse the coffee should be ground depends on the type of coffee machine being used. The manner of grinding affects how quickly the flavors of the coffee can be released. Because of this, espresso coffee is ground very finely. Contrarily, coffee made with filter coffee machines has a coarser grind (coarsely ground).

Advantages of Coffee

• According to recent studies, those who drink coffee have a lower risk of dying from some of the leading causes of mortality in women, including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and renal disease.
• Studies have shown that people who drink more coffee have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
• A daily intake of one to two cups of coffee can prevent heart failure, which happens when the heart cannot pump blood adequately throughout the body.
• Caffeine may not only reduce the likelihood of developing Parkinson's disease but also enhance movement control in people who already have the condition.

Disadvantages of Coffee

• Insomnia: The first drawback of coffee is insomnia, which is now a typical occurrence.
• Anxiety: Anxiety can be defined as a persistent feeling of worry, agitation, or tension. You shouldn't be concerned in the slightest, though, if you feel anxious about some things.
• Digestive Issues: This drawback of coffee might be a nightmare for those who already suffer from indigestion. Coffee may nonetheless irritate the stomachs of even individuals with tight tummies, leading to unpleasant side effects, including heartburn.
• Addictive: This sudden surge in energy leaves one wanting more and unable to handle the sudden decrease in energy, making you tired and exhausted.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Does coffee include caffeine?

Ans. A cup of coffee typically contains 95 milligrams of caffeine. No matter the brewing technique, proper coffee brewing allows us to dissolve (or extract) the same amount of coffee. In principle, whether your final beverage is a 30ml espresso or a 250ml filter-brewed coffee, the total amount of caffeine should be rather consistent, even though the flavor concentration will change.

Q2. Do dark and light roasts contain different amounts of caffeine?

Ans. Although some claim that light-roasted coffee has more caffeine than dark-roasted coffee, neither method of roasting coffee reaches a temperature high enough to kill the caffeine. In other words, they all have roughly the same amount of caffeine.

Q3. Compared to tea, does coffee have more caffeine?

Ans. The quick answer is that black tea, typically regarded as having the highest caffeine level among the many types of tea, has nearly twice as much caffeine as coffee on average (green, white, oolong, etc.)

Q4. How many calories does coffee have?

Ans. Black coffee contains no calories. On the other hand, 250ml of full-fat milk has about 100 calories, which implies that a flat white with 30ml of espresso and about 140ml of full-fat milk has about 60 calories, or about 70 calories if you use a milk substitute like oat milk.

Q5. Which nation is the largest producer of coffee?

Ans. Brazil today produces about 40% of the world's total coffee production, compared to as high as 80% before the start of the 20th century. After that, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Uganda, Mexico, and Guatemala are listed in that sequence.