A brief description of the species and origin of the most complete coffee trees

Summary of Coffee Tree species

Friends often say, "I often hear about Arabica beans on the market." "what's wrong with this sentence? People who know coffee should be able to quickly tell what the problem is, but as far as the Taiwan market is concerned, the general public's understanding of coffee is not mature because they have not studied zoology or botany. What is wrong with this sentence?. The following let the author explain.

Since coffee trees are plants, they can be easily applied in biological classification. Among the seven biological classes, the lower the class, the more species there are. For coffee trees, they are divided into two categories: "Arabica", "Robusta" and an additional special species: "Liberica". However, because its production is small and it is not in circulation on the market, it is mainly sold by itself in West African countries. Therefore, the author discusses the current boutique coffee market.

Arabica (Arabica):

At present, there are two original species of Arabica that have been first discovered.

"Typica": it is the oldest native variety with weak physique, poor disease resistance, easy to catch leaf disease, low number of results and poor economic benefits. The top leaves of coffee trees are bronzed; coffee beans are large, oval or thin.

"Bourbon": it has exuberant vitality and good disease resistance, and its flavor is richer than that of the above-mentioned ones. The yield is higher than that of Typica30%, but it needs to be fallow for at least one year after each harvest, which is more suitable for planting at an altitude of 1200m. Round beans are characteristic, but there are also bourbon pointed bodies, low yield and weak physique, which are not common in the market.

But why do we need moderately high-altitude planting areas?

1. Large temperature difference: the temperature at high altitude varies greatly in the morning and evening, so it is easy for coffee trees to concentrate most of their sweetness and nutrients in the fruit, and the overall flavor will be rich at lower altitude, which will be the biggest main reason for the sweetness and flavor of coffee, so some manors in pursuit of flavor are set in suitable high altitude areas.

two。 Insect pests: there are many kinds of coffee tree insects, most of which are harmful to coffee trees are fruit-based insects, which will directly eat the fruit, directly into the pulp and directly into the fruit, causing damage to the coffee bean fruit itself; moreover, these insects have strong fecundity and can easily lead to the fall of the whole manor. However, in the case of high altitude, the activity of insects decreases, it is not easy to survive, and the fecundity also decreases, which makes the problem of insect pests less easy to exist.

3. Frost damage: the higher the altitude, the easier it is to have this problem, so the appropriate high altitude and the proper treatment of the manor owner will give the coffee fruit better room for growth; on the contrary, the coffee fruit is prone to frostbite and the coffee tree is not easy to grow. on the contrary, the overall environment will not allow the coffee tree to survive.

Of course, there are many reasons, but they all complement each other, mainly due to the climate situation, because other factors can be overcome according to current science and technology, that is, only the climate is the single most difficult to control. All manor owners also depend on heaven to eat, but in other factors, manor owners must have the ability to deal with other factors. In order to create an environment in which your coffee fruit can grow at ease.

At present, the above two native species are not the main force on the market, but almost all sources come from these two types of native species. Some special gene mutants are introduced below.

Kenya "SL28", "SL34": at the beginning of the 20th century, French and English missionaries and researchers screened Kenyan tree species with excellent and outstanding flavor, and the Bourbon direct line was planted in Kenya's high concentration of phosphoric acid soil, giving it a special fruit acidity.

Geisha (Geisha): belonging to the Typica family, it was exported from Geisha Mountain in Ethiopia in 1931 and experienced Tanzania > Costa Rica > Panama before it was really valued after 2005. It is also the new darling whose wealth has soared fastest in recent years.

Yellow bourbon (Bourbon Amarello): it gets its name because the ripe fruit is different from the common coffee fruit in red but yellow.

Kaddura (Caturra): Bourbon single gene variety has better production capacity and disease resistance than native species, lower tree height, more convenient harvest, and can also adapt to high-density planting, but it needs more fertilizer and higher cost. The disadvantage is that it has the problem of production capacity fluctuation every two years, and its flavor is worse than that of bourbon, but it does not need to plant shade trees (Note 1), also known as exposed coffee (Sun coffee). It is suitable for planting in the high altitude area of 700m > 1700m, with strong adaptability, the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, but the productivity will be reduced.

Pacas (Pacas): the Bourbon variety found in El Salvador, with high production capacity and good quality, often acts as a "stallion" of improved breeds.

Vera Saatchi (Villa Sarchi): the market is rare. The Bourbon variant was found in Costa rica in the 1960s.

Elephant bean (Maragogype): the bean body is two to three times larger than the general Arabica bean, which is a variety of Typica. It was found in 1870 in the Maragogype bean-producing area of Bahia in northeastern Brazil; it should be grown at a high altitude above 1000m; good flavor, mild acidity, sweet and pleasant; low production capacity.

The following are Arabica hybrids

New World (Mundo Novo): the natural hybrid of Bourbon and Sumatra Typica was first found in Brazil; it has high yield, resistance to diseases and insect pests, and good quality, so it is regarded as a new hope for the coffee industry in Brazil; the only drawback is that trees are often higher than three meters in height and are not easy to harvest.

Cutuai: it is a hybrid variety of New World and Kaddura, which inherits the advantage of low tree stature of Kaddura. Another advantage is that the fruit is solid, the strong wind is not easy to blow down, and strengthens the disadvantage that Arabica fruit is weak and not frightened by the wind. The disadvantage is that the fruit is matured into red and yellow fruit, the flavor of red fruit is better, and the tree age is shorter.

Pacamara (Pacamara): with complex pedigree, it is a hybrid variety of Typica variety elephant bean and Bourbon variety Pacas. Its large grain is second only to elephant bean and is a rising star in El Salvador.

Kent: Typica hybrid found in India, with high yield and high disease resistance, but with poor flavor.

The above are the more common basic species, as well as the hybridization of Arabica and Robusta, as well as various new species, which will be explained in more detail when the manor is introduced later.

Note 1: shade trees: help to nurture the acidity of coffee. In the absence of direct sunlight, coffee trees have a slow metabolism and are easy to accumulate nutrients and fragrances. This factor is applicable to most coffee trees at all elevations.