Coffee—Specialty Crop Profile
The coffee seed, referred to as “bean,” is processed, roasted and brewed for beverages. The roasted beans and brewed coffee are also used in candies, desserts and savory dishes. Many uses for the fruit, seed, and by-products can be found. The fruit pulp can be dried and used to make tea, which contains caffeine and antioxidants. The fruit pulp is high in nitrogen and potassium and is used, fresh or composted, for fertilizer and to add organic matter to the soil. The parchment skins also add organic matter and are used as mulch in coffee orchards and around other plants.
Agroforestry/interplanting practices
In many parts of the world, coffee is interplanted with other crops. These crops vary in size and description and are chosen depending on the needs of the producer. Since coffee is tolerant of moderate shade, it is commonly grown beneath taller plants. These plants can be part of a relatively simple agroforestry system composed of a small number of tree species or a complex, multi-strata forest.
Around the world, there exists a wide range of shaded coffee systems. In a simple shade system, coffee is grown together with one other crop, thereby providing two sources of income from the same land area. On family-run subsistence farms, there may also be a scattering of fruit trees for on-farm consumption and additional shade coverage. The range of fruit trees on shaded coffee farms is extensive and is determined by the subsistence and commercial goals of the farmer. Some examples of species interplanted with coffee in Hawai‘i are citrus (Citrus spp.), Macadamia nut (Macadamia integrifolia), mango (Mangifera indica), breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), avocado (Persea americana), papaya (Carica papaya), and jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora).
Many coffee farms in Hawai‘i include native Hawaiian and non-native trees for shade cover. Aside from shade and other traditional shade tree benefits (see “Advantages and disadvantages of polycultures” below), these trees offer natural beauty, conservation of native species and, potentially, a future crop of timber. These species include koa (Acacia koa), ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha), monkeypod (Samanea saman), and gliricidia or madré de cacao (Gliricidia sepium).
Around the world, many different species of trees are used in coffee agroforestry systems. Nitrogen-fixing trees like inga (Inga spp.), coral tree (Erythrina spp.), and leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) are common. Timber trees include Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata), laurel (Cordia alliodora), and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.).
Postharvest handling and processing
After harvesting, the fruit skin and other layers around the seed must be removed and the seed dried before roasting and consuming. The seed is usually removed from the fruit and the mucilage is removed by fermentation (wet process) or machine (demucilaging). However, fruit and mucilage removal is not mandatory (dry process). The coffee seeds (beans) must be dried to 8–12.5% moisture for storage and international trade (International Coffee Organization standards, but not all locales follow these standards). If the fruit skin is removed, the dried seed can be stored in the parchment until shipping or roasting. If the seed is dried in the fruit, it can be stored as-is or hulled to be stored as green bean.
Original source of this article
This article is excerpted by permission of the publisher from
Smith, V.E., S. Steiman, and C.R. Elevitch. 2011. Coffee (Coffea arabica). In: Elevitch, C.R. (ed.). Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry. Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR), Holualoa, Hawai‘i. © Permanent Agriculture Resources