Composition structure of coffee cherry coffee fruit structure of coffee

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Anatomy of Coffee Cherry

The coffee beans you brew are actually processed and roasted seeds of a fruit known as a coffee cherry.

The outer skin of a coffee cherry is called the exocarp. Beneath it is the mesocarp, a thin layer of flesh, followed by a layer of slimy parenchyma. The beans themselves are wrapped in a paper-like envelope called the endocarp, commonly referred to as parchment.

Inside the parchment lay two beans side by side, each wrapped in a separate film. The biological name for this seed skin is sperm, but in the coffee trade it is commonly referred to as silver skin.

In 5% of the world's coffee, there is only one coffee bean in a cherry. This is called peaberry(or caracol, or "snail" in Spanish) and it is a natural mutation. Some people believe that small peas are actually sweeter and more palatable than regular beans, so sometimes they are hand-picked for special sales.

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