What exactly are Coffee beans? Do Coffee Beans Grow On Trees? How are they processed? This article will help you answer all your questions!
Coffee, no doubt, is one of the most popular beverages around the globe. Nothing beats a rejuvenating cup of coffee after long hours of sleep or exhausting work schedule. Coffee is also rich in antioxidants and offers significant health benefits as well.
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What are Coffee Beans?
Coffee beans are found inside the fruit of the coffee plant, known as ‘Cherry.’ Each cherry has a pit containing two seeds of coffee, called ‘Beans.’ Workers pick the beans by hand, dry and roast them before they reach out in the market as the final product–Coffee.
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Coffee Beans Processing
After collecting beans from coffee cherries, they immediately go through one of the following processing, to prevent spoilage.
Wet Process
A pulping machine removes the pulp and skin from the harvested coffee cherries. Once the beans separate, they pass through water channels, further separating them by their size and weight. Then the beans are put into the fermentation tanks for 14-46 hours to remove any layer of pulp around the beans. Once taken out from the tank, the beans go through additional rinsing before getting ready for drying.
Dry Process
It is the oldest method of coffee processing. After picking up fresh cherries, they are spread out on open surfaces to dry in the sun. In order to save them from spoiling, workers turn them multiple times in a day. The drying process continues until the moisture content of beans come to 11%.
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Do Coffee Beans Grow On Trees?
Coming back to the main question of this article, Yes! Coffee Beans do grow on evergreen trees or shrubs. The average height of a coffee tree is 16 feet, but farmers prune them to about 6-8 feet to harvest them effectively. Coffee grows in more than 80 countries worldwide. Central and East Africa, Latin America, India, and Brazil are the top coffee-producers in the world.
Read more about how to grow a Coffee Plant here.
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Benefits Of Coffee
- Having a cup of coffee is the best way to regulate low blood pressure.
- It acts as a prebiotic, helping in maintaining colon health by activating the gut flora.
- Caffeine, the psychoactive substance in coffee, helps to raise energy levels. It also helps to ease out mood swings and stress.
- A mug full of coffee contains many essential nutrients. It is high in Riboflavin, Magnesium, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium, Niacin, and Manganese.
- Caffeine in coffee is also responsible for weight loss and boosting metabolism—the reason why every weight reduction supplement contains caffeine.
- Coffee is one of the healthiest beverages on earth if you don’t overdrink it. It contains a high amount of antioxidants.
- It also works as an exfoliator. You can use crushed coffee beans to remove dead skin.