Coffee – An Introduction
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Coffee belongs to the family Rubiaceae, which consists of over five hundred species, most of which are shrubs or trees found in the lower regions of tropical rainforests. Within the genus Coffea there is a variety of species ranging from slender plants to trees that grow to a height of nearly seventy feet. The family also includes some tannin and quinine producing members.
The coffee family members were first classified by Linneause in the late 1730’s. In the 1930’s Chevalier came up with the standard nomenclature that is often used today. He split the genus into four major groups, three from Africa: Eucoffea; Agrocoffea; Mascarocoffea; and the other section (Paracoffea) being mainly from South East Asia. The economical important species of coffee belong to the first group, Eucoffea.
Some of the main species within Eucoffea include Coffea Arabica, commonly called Arabica and accounting for over 75% of the world’s commercial coffee supply. The second most common commercial coffee is Coffea canephora (synonym Coffea robusta Linden) this is commonly referred to as Robusta and represents 23% of the world’s coffee trade. The other major commercially viable species is Coffea liberica, from West Africa, which is representative of around one percent of the coffee trade.
Author: Deano
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