Is Coffee a Cherry? (Solved & Explained!)

Coffee comes from coffee beans found inside the pip of a red or purple fruit known as cherry fruit. The coffee beans are not beans, but they look like beans. The two flat beans-like seeds are present in each mature cherry fruit called authentic beans, but one flat source is sometimes seen in small cherry fruits, called peaberries. 

The peaberry can be harvested at the whole cherry fruit’s 15% ripening stage. They have more flavor and nutrients than entire ripe cherry fruit. The two most preferable varieties of coffee plants are Coffee robusta and Coffea arabica.

The most coffee produced worldwide is 40% coffee robusta and 60% Coffea arabica. Arabica coffee has 1.4% of the caffeine in their beans, and coffee robusta has 4.0% of it in their beans.

What are the Characteristics of a Coffee Tree? 

The coffee tree has an average length of five to ten meters. The coffee tree increases in size up to twenty years after that it slows down its growth. When coffee tea gets old, it starts losing its resistance to pests or pathogens. With its age, it starts producing fewer fruits, and its fruit growth also diminishes with time.

Coffee plants are usually grown in the row form. Many farmers grow coffee plants under shady trees because they require a specific temperature to grow well potentially. Coffee trees are generally produced at the margins of fields on the hills.

What Conditions are Required to Grow the Coffee Plants? 

Arabica coffee beans are best grown under 59 to 75 Fahrenheit (15 to 24 degrees Celsius) temperature, and robusta coffee flowers can flourish best at 75 to 86 Fahrenheit (24 to 30 degrees Celsius).

Moreover, heavy rain is needed to produce the coffee plants. More rainfall, about 150 to 300 cm of rain, is required at the flourishing time of fruits, but when fruits are near to ripen, they will need less rain.

When fruit is ripe, it is selectively harvested by the tree either by machine or hands. This harvesting method needs special care and attention because one should know ripe and unripe fruits. The selective picking method is probably preferred for producing good quality coffee.

Does all Coffee Come From Cherry? 

Coffee comes from cherry fruit beans which are green or red. Coffee beans are not beans. They are seeds, but they look like beans. After harvesting, their skin and pulp are removed and whatever is left after are seeds. These selected seeds are roasted at favorable temperatures and are known as coffee beans. 

The outer skin of the cherry is rough or stone-like and under the skin is pulp, and inside this pulp, coffee seeds are present. When removing the pulp from coffee seeds, the inside sources are still very hard. But when they are passed through the roasting process, they become easier to grind.

The pulp of the cherry fruit can also be used to make cascara, a whole fruit drink that’s existed for centuries. The skin of cherry fruit gives the same coffee cherry flavors.

Is Coffee a Fruit? 

The taste of coffee is sweet, so it is usually considered a fruit as it comes from beans inside the cherry fruit.

The coffee fruits are grown in clusters on a coffee tree. The coffee fruits are small and green in color, but they become red or purple when they are ripe.

What are Some Coffee Cherry Benefits? 

Coffee fruits have a lot of antioxidants and polyphenols. Antioxidants can neutralize the free radicals; otherwise, these free radicals can damage the cells and lead to chronic diseases. Therefore, the extract from the coffee fruits has many benefits. For example, taking 800mg of coffee extract improves the antioxidants level in the body.

It is investigated that the antioxidants present in coffee fruit extract are 25% more in quantity than the antioxidants present in coffee beans.

These coffee cherries slow down the sign of aging.

According to modern research, taking 100mg of coffee fruit enhances brain-derived neurotrophic factors. This neurotrophic factor is a protein essential for the growth of neuron cells in the brain. This protein enhances the growth of neuron cells by 143% just after two hours of eating coffee fruits.

The deficiency of BDNF causes Alzheimer’s Disease. Coffee fruit helps to treat this disease by increasing this neurotrophic factor.

Coffee fruits help reduce body weight with extracts that help break the fat cells and reduce the production of other fat cells. In addition, the chlorogenic acid present in the coffee fruit also helps to reduce weight.

In Which Form Is Coffee Fruit available? 

Coffee fruits are available in liquid extracts, capsules, and tablets form. These fruit extracts positively affect brain health and increase the body’s energy level. 

How Do You Turn Coffee Cherries into Beans? 

Coffee cherries are converted into coffee beans by the roasting process of coffee seeds. Coffee seeds are extracted from cherry fruits by removing the hard outer skin and the seeds’ pulp.

After that, these seeds are roasted up to 540 Fahrenheit (282 degrees Celsius) for 8 to 20 minutes. When these seeds shrink and get a dark color with a fragrant aroma, they are now called coffee beans.

The roasting process of coffee beans also depends on cracking sounds. There are two cracking sounds heard at the time of roasting.

The first cracking sound is heard at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and the second cracking sound is heard at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the cellulose matrix of coffee beans starts to break down. Now, these coffee beans are completely roasted.

What is Coffee Cherry Powder? 

The coffee cherries are dehydrated and dried. After that, they are ground into fine powder. This powder is known as coffee cherry powder.

This powder tastes like bittersweet dark chocolate. Cherry coffee powder is ground as a whole, and you don’t remove any of its parts like skin, pulp, and bean. Due to the lack of potency, the caffeine in coffee cherry powder is less than in roasted beans.