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Coffee (Coffea), almost people entire the world love to drink coffee, from ordinary coffee drinker up to crazy coffee lover. However, did you know that coffee drink which is made from a seed of plant scientifically identified as Coffea species and have two major varieties named Arabica Coffee and Robusta Coffee originally come from Ethiopia about 1000 BC? Yes, this exotic drink has a long history before come up to our table in the morning as a first friend that comes to us in the morning.
Some expert of coffee said that since 800 BC, people of Africa especially Ethiopia already enjoyed coffee; they mix coffee seeds with wine and animal fats to fulfill their protein and energy for the body. From Ethiopia, hundreds years after enjoyed by Ethiopian then bring to Arab, Arab peoples then proceed coffee seeds better than the Africans proceed. They not only cooked the seeds, but also then take the quintessence of coffee, used it as the raw of a kind of drink as now we recognized it as Coffee Drinks. From the land of Arabic, coffee drinks popularity then spread into Northern Africa, Mediterranean, and India. Althought, there is no Coffee cultivation in Arab, but people of Arab is ones who render a service to promote coffee entire the world, of course included peoples of Ethiopia.
Coffee bring to Europe in 1615, comes to Europe via Turkey. The Dutch then bring coffee into South East Asia, especially Java Island and widely cultivated there on 1690 and become one of their main agro industries in their colonial land. On 1714, King Louis XIV from France receives Coffee Trees from The Dutch to fulfill Jardin des Plantes, their Botanical Garden in Paris. Gabriel Mathieu di Clieu then bring the seed of coffee to Martinique, in Martinique, France, coffee plant grows very well and they made a great succeed, 18 millions of coffee tree grows for only first 50 years of cultivation. From the Europe then coffee spread out entire the world especially on their colonial territories.
Characteristic of the tree:
Coffee plant grows well at low up to middle land 600-2000 above sea level, temperature range 18 – 26 C. Coffee fruit need quite long time to be ready to consume, from flower period to ready for harvest need about 9 – 11 months depending on grows condition and variety of plant. Coffee tress has many branches, commonly the fruit grown on the branches, has a taproot, hard wood and green leaves.
The plant starting to produce at 2 up to 3 year age, depending on quality of cultivation applied.
Coffee plant needs high oxygen so the root grows shallow, near the surface of the ground. This condition is to support their daily oxygen absorption process. Generally, deepest roots of the coffee tree will only reach 30 cm of the soil surface. Coffee shows dimorphism in vegetative growth: growth Orthotropic (upright) and growth plagiotropic (laterally).
The part of plant that grows Orthotropic can result in the growth of Orthotropic and Plagiotropic. However, the Plagiotropic part could only produce the growth Plagiotropic and cannot produce Orthotropic. Therefore, the connection branches or branch cuttings cannot grow upward, but usually continue to grow laterally.
The coffee leaves grow opposite and in pairs, either growing on branches and trunks. In the branches, the leaves in pairs and is located in one area. However, on the trunk and sub stem, leaf pairs are not located in one area. Pairs of leaves will lie in one plane. Pairs of leaves will lie in intersecting areas. Then that should also be known, leaf stomata or mouth is varies according to the type of coffee. The coffee leaf will be wide, thin, and flabby when the light intensity is too little. Coffee tree leaf color is green to dark green.
The Fruit:
The coffee tree flowers growing in the armpits leaves on a branch, at each armpit there will be 4-5 bunches. To that end each of which will consist of 3 to 5 flowers. Up and thus each armpit will be formed between 12 to 25 flowers, or let's say 24 to 50 flowers per group. The flowers have a distinctive scent, green fruit when young, and old red when ready to harvest.
For Arabica coffee, in general, the number of stems will be less so the number of fruit per group is smaller when compared to other types of Robusta coffee. At optimal conditions, the amount of interest it can reach more than 6000 to 8000 per tree. However, the flowers that grows into ripe fruit usually ranges between 30 to 50 percent.
Crown of the flowers is white, with a number of crowns that vary depending on the type of coffee:
- Arabica coffee has 5 petals.
- Robusta coffee has 308 petals.
As well as the stigma stalk length, this was according to the type of coffee.
- Arabica coffee has a pistil stem length is shorter when compared with the stamens;
- Robusta coffee has a long stalk pistil longer when compared with the stamens.
Then pollination of each type is also different:
- Arabica coffee, self-pollinated / Self-Pollinator;
- Robusta coffee, cross-pollinated / Cross pollinator.
Pollination on coffee plants is usually carried by the wind. Pollination can be up to 100 meters from the tree itself, but actually, the most good is brought within 35 feet of the tree itself. In general, the coffee plant will put out flowers at the age of 3 years, and then later at the age of 4 years are just beginning to bear fruit, the ovary is located below and contains two ovule.
Economic potential:
At least 2.25 billion cups coffee consumed daily worldwide, and keep on growing daily in line with world population growing. Brazil is the highest producer of coffee beans they produced 2.44 million metric tons in 2009, followed by Vietnam 1.18, Columbia 0.89, Indonesia 0.70, and India 0.29. Coffee even though can grow in non-tropic area but in fact, they growing and producing better in tropic area.
The world already has an organization that manage all everything about worldwide coffee trade monitoring, this show us that coffee is one of important agro merchandize of the world. Coffee bean prize is standing on growing time by time.
With global crazy consumption and limited area for maximize production, so what you think? Is there a good prospect in trading and coffee plantation investment?
Scientific classification:
- Kingdom: Plantae (Plants)
- Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (Vascular Plants)
- Super Division: Spermatophyta (Produces seeds)
- Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
- Class: Magnoliopsida (dashed two / dicots)
- Sub Class: Asteridae
- Order: Rubiales
- Family: Rubiaceae (coffee matters tribes)
- Genus: Coffea
- Species: Coffea arabica L.
- Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner
