Arabica coffee
Family Rubiaceae
Coffea arabica, arabica coffee (C. arabica 1), is an evergreen shrub or small tree, up to 5 m high, with opposite, elliptical and acuminate dark-green glossy leaves, and fragrant pentamerous white flowers (C. arabica 2) in axillary inflorescences, about 2 cm across, with 5 stamens and an inferior ovary. The flower buds remain dormant until stimulated by rain. The fruit is a drupe, about 1.5 cm long, turning red when ripe (C. arabica 3), containing 2 seeds (C. arabica 4), enveloped in a thin silvery testa. After drying and removal of this skin, the seeds provide the coffee beans, which contain about 1-1.5% of caffeine.
Distribution
Arabica coffee is a native of Ethiopia and was taken from there to Arabia at an early date.
The discovery of brewing coffee was made in the 15th century. The Dutch took the coffee to Java in the 1690s, and in 1706 a plant from Java was taken to the Amsterdam Botanic Gardens, where it flowered and fruited. Seeds from this tree were presented in 1713 to Louis XIV in Paris. From Amsterdam, planting material (C. arabica 5) was sent to Suriname in 1718, and from there it was taken to Brazil in 1727. Progeny from the Louis XIV plant reached Martinique about 1720 and Jamaica in 1730. Progeny from the Amsterdam tree was taken to the Philippines in 1740 and later to Hawaii. In the 1690s the plant was also introduced into India and Sri Lanka. So far the story refers to the variety Coffea arabica var. arabica (= Coffea arabica var. typica). Another variety from Ethiopia, Coffea arabica var. bourbon, was taken by the French to Reunion in about 1718, and progeny from this variety was later introduced into the New World and taken to East Africa by missionaries at the end of the 19th century. During cultivation mutations occurred in both varieties, giving rise to several new strains or cultivars.
Use
A coffee tree comes in full bearing at 6-8 years. The fruits mature 7-9 month after flowering and are usually picked by hand. They are either dried in the sun for about 3 weeks (C. arabica 6) (C. arabica 8), or pulped and fermented in water in order to liberate the seeds. The dried beans are exported. To make a beverage, the beans have to been roasted and ground to release the aromatic substances. This process was known in Arabia and spread throughout the Middle East, reaching Cairo about 1510 and Istanbul around 1550. The first introduction of drinking coffee in Europe was in 1616 in Venice. Today coffee is one of the most popular beverages, together with tea, not only because of its taste, but also because of the stimulating effect of the caffeine. However, caffeine-free coffee is available; after roasting the caffeine is precipitated with the help of a solvent.
Yields vary enormously, from about 500 kg per hectare annually in South America, to 2000 kg in Hawaii. Biggest producers of coffee are Brazil, Colombia, and other South American countries. Africa produces about one-fifth of the world’s total production, but most of this is robusta coffee. Ivory Coast, Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Congo and East Africa (C. arabica 7) are the principal producers. Asia produces only minor quantities of coffee, mainly in Indonesia and India. Once Sri Lanka was the biggest producer of coffee, but at the end of the 19th century a mould infection destroyed the crop.
The main importing countries include the US, Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden.