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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Arabica coffee''
| image = Coffee1.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''Coffea arabica'' in fruit - [[Brazil]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Rubiaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Coffea]]''
| species = '''''C. arabica'''''
| binomial = ''Coffea arabica''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Coffea arabica''''' is a species of [[coffee]] indigenous to [[Ethiopia]]. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee". ''Coffea arabica'' is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest [[Arabia]] for well over 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, ''[[Coffea canephora (robusta)]]''. ''Arabica'' contains less [[caffeine]] than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee. Wild plants grow to between 7-12 m tall, and have an open branching system; the [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, simple elliptic-ovate to oblong, 6-12 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, glossy dark green. The [[flower]]s are produced in axillary clusters, each flower white, and 1-1.5 cm diameter. The [[fruit]] is a [[berry]] 10-15 mm long, maturing bright red to purple, containing two [[seed]]s (the coffee 'bean').
== Cultivation ==
[[Image:Coffee Flowers.JPG|thumb|left|''Coffea arabica'' flowers - [[Brazil]]]]
[[Image:Unroasted coffee .jpg|thumb|250px|right|Unroasted coffee(''Coffea arabica'') beans - [[Brazil]]]]
''Coffea arabica'' takes about seven years to mature fully and does best with 1-1.5 meters (about 40-59 inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year. It is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude, but there are plantations as low as sea level and as high as 2,800 m. The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and it does best when the temperature hovers around 20°C (68°F). Commercial [[cultivar]]s mostly only grow to about 5 m, and are frequently trimmed as low as 2 m to facilitate harvesting. Unlike ''[[Coffea canephora (robusta)]]'', ''Coffea arabica'' prefers to be grown in light shade.
[[Image:Koeh-189.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Drawing of ''Coffea arabica'']]
Three to four years after planting coffea arabica produces small, white and highly fragrant flowers. The sweet fragrance resembles the sweet smell of [[jasmine]] flowers. The flowers that open on sunny days produce the greatest numbers of berries. This can be a curse however as coffee plants tend to produce too many berries; this can lead to an inferior harvest and even damage yield in the following years as the plant will favor the ripening of berries to
the detriment of its own health. On well kept planatations this is prevented by pruning the tree. The flowers themselves only last a few days leaving behind only the thick dark green leaves. The [[drupe]]s, or berries, then begin to appear. These are as dark green as the foliage, until they begin to ripen, at first to yellow and then light red and finally darkening to a glossy deep red. At this point they are called 'cherries' and are ready for picking. The berries are oblong and about 1 cm long. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand. But they are sometimes shaken off the tree onto mats.
The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce anywhere from 0.5-5 kg of dried beans, depending on the tree's individual character and the climate that season. The berries themselves are edible. They are very sweet, with a texture somewhat like a grape. The real prize of this [[cash crop]] are the beans inside. Each berry holds two [[locule]]s containing the beans. The coffee beans are actually two seeds within the fruit, there is sometimes a third seed or one seed, a [[peaberry]] in the fruits at tips of the branches. These seeds are covered in two membranes, the outer one is called the 'parchment' and the inner one is called the 'silver skin'
.
In perfect conditions, like those of [[Java (island)|Java]], trees are planted at all times of the year and are harvested year round. In less ideal conditions, like those in parts of [[Brazil]], the trees have a season and are harvested only in winter. Gourmet coffees are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of coffea arabica.
== History and legend ==
{{main|Coffee}}
[[Image:Coffee Plantation.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Coffea arabica'' plantation, São João do Manhuaçu, [[Minas Gerais]], [[Brazil]]]]
According to [[legend]], human cultivation of coffee began after [[goat]]s in [[Ethiopia]] were seen becoming frisky after eating the leaves and fruits of the coffee tree. In reality, human consumption of coffee [[fruits]] probably began long before humans took up [[pastoralism]]. In Ethiopia there are still some locales where people drink a [[tisane]] made from the leaves of the coffee tree.
The first written record of coffee, made from [[roasted]] coffee beans, comes from [[Arab]]ian scholars who wrote that it was useful in prolonging their working hours. The Arab innovation of making a brew from roasted beans, spread first among the Egyptians and [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and later on found its way around the world.
<!-- lots of stories needed: Garbriel d'Erchigny de Clieu, Lt. Colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta, Tunisian pirates, etc. -->
== News from current research ==
[[Image:Coffee Tree.JPG|thumb|left|''Coffea arabica in [[Brazil]]'']]
Brazilian biologists have found an Ethiopian ''Coffea arabica'' that naturally contains very little caffeine. [[Paulo Mazzafera]], a researcher of [[Universidade Estadual de Campinas]], recently published findings in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' about these strains of ''Coffea arabica'' plants. While beans of normal ''Coffea arabica'' plants contains 12 milligrams of caffeine per gram of dry mass, these newly found mutants contain only 0.76 milligrams of caffeine per gram with all the taste of normal coffee.
== Literature ==
{{Commons|Coffea}}
* Paulo Mazzafera et al: A naturally decaffeinated arabica coffee. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 429: 826 (June 2004)
* ''The World of caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug''. By Bennet Alan Weinberg, and Bonnie K. Bealer
== External links==
* [http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/coffeeplant.htm CoffeeResearch.org] - Coffee plant, harvesting, fertilization, processing, and diseases.
[[Category:Rubiaceae]]
[[Category:Coffee]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Arabica coffee''
| image = Coffee1.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''Coffea arabica'' in fruit - [[Brazil]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Rubiaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Coffea]]''
| species = '''''C. arabica'''''
| binomial = ''Coffea arabica''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
'''''Coffea arabica''''' is a species of [[coffee]] indigenous to [[Ethiopia]]. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee". ''Coffea arabica'' is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest [[Arabia]] for well over 1,000 years. It is considered to produce better coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, ''[[Coffea canephora (robusta)]]''. ''Arabica'' contains less [[caffeine]] than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee. Wild plants grow to between 7-12 m tall, and have an open branching system; the [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, simple elliptic-ovate to oblong, 6-12 cm long and 4-8 cm broad, glossy dark green. The [[flower]]s are produced in axillary clusters, each flower white, and 1-1.5 cm diameter. The [[fruit]] is a [[berry]] 10-15 mm long, maturing bright red to purple, containing two [[seed]]s (the coffee 'bean').
== Cultivation ==
[[Image:Coffee Flowers.JPG|thumb|left|''Coffea arabica'' flowers - [[Brazil]]]]
[[Image:Unroasted coffee .jpg|thumb|250px|right|Unroasted coffee(''Coffea arabica'') beans - [[Brazil]]]]
''Coffea arabica'' takes about seven years to mature fully and does best with 1-1.5 meters (about 40-59 inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year. It is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude, but there are plantations as low as sea level and as high as 2,800 m. The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and it does best when the temperature hovers around 20°C (68°F). Commercial [[cultivar]]s mostly only grow to about 5 m, and are frequently trimmed as low as 2 m to facilitate harvesting. Unlike ''[[Coffea canephora (robusta)]]'', ''Coffea arabica'' prefers to be grown in light shade.
[[Image:Koeh-189.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Drawing of ''Coffea arabica'']]
Three to four years after planting coffea arabica produces small, white and highly fragrant flowers. The sweet fragrance resembles the sweet smell of [[jasmine]] flowers. The flowers that open on sunny days produce the greatest numbers of berries. This can be a curse however as coffee plants tend to produce too many berries; this can lead to an inferior harvest and even damage yield in the following years as the plant will favor the ripening of berries to
the detriment of its own health. On well kept planatations this is prevented by pruning the tree. The flowers themselves only last a few days leaving behind only the thick dark green leaves. The [[drupe]]s, or berries, then begin to appear. These are as dark green as the foliage, until they begin to ripen, at first to yellow and then light red and finally darkening to a glossy deep red. At this point they are called 'cherries' and are ready for picking. The berries are oblong and about 1 cm long. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand. But they are sometimes shaken off the tree onto mats.
The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce anywhere from 0.5-5 kg of dried beans, depending on the tree's individual character and the climate that season. The berries themselves are edible. They are very sweet, with a texture somewhat like a grape. The real prize of this [[cash crop]] are the beans inside. Each berry holds two [[locule]]s containing the beans. The coffee beans are actually two seeds within the fruit, there is sometimes a third seed or one seed, a [[peaberry]] in the fruits at tips of the branches. These seeds are covered in two membranes, the outer one is called the 'parchment' and the inner one is called the 'silver skin'
.
In perfect conditions, like those of [[Java (island)|Java]], trees are planted at all times of the year and are harvested year round. In less ideal conditions, like those in parts of [[Brazil]], the trees have a season and are harvested only in winter. Gourmet coffees are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of coffea arabica.
== History and legend ==
{{main|Coffee}}
[[Image:Coffee Plantation.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Coffea arabica'' plantation, São João do Manhuaçu, [[Minas Gerais]], [[Brazil]]]]
According to [[legend]], human cultivation of coffee began after [[goat]]s in [[Ethiopia]] were seen becoming frisky after eating the leaves and fruits of the coffee tree. In reality, human consumption of coffee [[fruits]] probably began long before humans took up [[pastoralism]]. In Ethiopia there are still some locales where people drink a [[tisane]] made from the leaves of the coffee tree.
The first written record of coffee, made from [[roasted]] coffee beans, comes from [[Arab]]ian scholars who wrote that it was useful in prolonging their working hours. The Arab innovation of making a brew from roasted beans, spread first among the Egyptians and [[Turkic peoples|Turks]] and later on found its way around the world.
<!-- lots of stories needed: Garbriel d'Erchigny de Clieu, Lt. Colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta, Tunisian pirates, etc. -->
== News from current research ==
[[Image:Coffee Tree.JPG|thumb|left|''Coffea arabica in [[Brazil]]'']]
Brazilian biologists have found an Ethiopian ''Coffea arabica'' that naturally contains very little caffeine. [[Paulo Mazzafera]], a researcher of [[Universidade Estadual de Campinas]], recently published findings in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' about these strains of ''Coffea arabica'' plants. While beans of normal ''Coffea arabica'' plants contains 12 milligrams of caffeine per gram of dry mass, these newly found mutants contain only 0.76 milligrams of caffeine per gram with all the taste of normal coffee.
== Literature ==
{{Commons|Coffea}}
* Paulo Mazzafera et al: A naturally decaffeinated arabica coffee. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 429: 826 (June 2004)
* ''The World of caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug''. By Bennet Alan Weinberg, and Bonnie K. Bealer
== External links==
* [http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/coffeeplant.htm CoffeeResearch.org] - Coffee plant, harvesting, fertilization, processing, and diseases.
[[Category:Rubiaceae]]
[[Category:Coffee]]