Is Coffee a Vegetable? (Solved & Explained!)

Coffee grows on trees and shrubs, which produce small and round stone fruits similar to berries. These berries contain coffee seeds inside and hence are fruits, not vegetables. The famous concept that beans are vegetables is the real culprit behind the misconception that coffee is a vegetable.

The coffee beans are not beans but seeds. Technically, beans are legumes, a vegetable class including lentils, beans, and peas. 

Besides, it is a famous and somewhat true concept that any edible plant used as food by humans is a vegetable. However, since the seeds of the coffee come from a fruit (berry), coffee is inevitably a fruit, not a vegetable.

This article will look at what type of vegetable or fruit coffee is, and offer more information on the famous coffee bean.

Is Coffee a Fruit or a Nut?

Coffee is a small, round stone fruit similar to berries and is not a nut. When developed, these fruits are green and turn redder or purple as they are ripe. 

The fruit contains two seeds inside, known as coffee beans extracted from the fruit. These coffee beans are processed to make roasted coffee while the skin and pulp of the coffee fruit are discarded. The coffee fruit has a size similar to that of a grape. These are the branches of the coffee tree on which the coffee fruit grows.

However, some people classify beans of coffee as nuts, but that’s not the case in actuality. Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee fruits. If we understand the term “nuts,” which means “a fruit that consists of a tough or hard shell around some edible kernel,” then we quickly get to know that coffee beans do not contain a hard shell around them. 

Instead, they are covered by a thin layer of fruity mucilage and a more intricate outermost covering. Moreover, coffee beans are not edible; that is the case with nuts like peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and so on.

What Food Group Does Coffee Belong to?

There are five major groups of foods (Vegetables, Fruits, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy), and coffee belongs to the fruit group. 

However, there are a lot of differences based on nutrition that may make coffee unfit to place in the fruit food groups. Coffee fruits are rich in nutrients. Due to the nutritional importance of these fruits, they are called a superfood.

The nutritions present in Coffee fruits are Caffeine (1 gram of coffee fruit extract contains 4.4 milligrams of Caffeine), Antioxidants, Quinic acid, Vitamin B2, Magnesium, Chlorogenic acid, and Diterpenes.

Due to its nutrients, coffee is one of those beverages that will suit you best when taken in moderation. In comparison, any other fruit with a wide variety of nutrients (most commonly Vitamin A and C, folate, potassium, and dietary fibers) can be taken in greater quantities compared to coffee fruits.

Moreover, coffee fruits vary widely from other fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas. It is the nutritional value, but the coffee fruits have a taste that differs significantly from fruits. Coffee fruits have a sweet and sugary taste with multiple flavors similar to berries, fruits, hibiscus, or tobacco. 

The flavor of ripped coffee fruit is somewhat pleasant, but it slightly lingers on the tongue. You will enjoy the lovely taste of a small jolt of Caffeine you get along with it but there is no way to replace your favorite fruit. 

Besides these differences, you must be wondering why coffee is placed in fruit food groups. This is because coffee berry or coffee fruit fulfills the definition of fruit, i.e., any plant which contains seeds inside it is a fruit.

Is the Coffee Bean a Fruit?

The coffee bean is not a fruit itself but is present in coffee fruit. Each coffee fruit contains two coffee beans inside it. The attached mucilage (the flesh of the coffee berry) and the papery skin around coffee beans are usually the fruity parts of the coffee berry. 

Coffee berries – also called “Coffee cherries” and the beans inside – also called “coffee beans” are edible. The edible parts of the coffee plants are consumed in various ways, such as to make several beverages (Cascara) and products. People aware of the health benefits of coffee fruits consume it in a variety of methods such as supplements, capsules, or even powdered forms.

What is Coffee Made of?

Coffee is made up of beans (roasted). These beans or seeds come from berries of a flowering plant known as the Coffea genus.

When cherry-like fruit is ripe, its color turns bright and dark red. This indicates that it is ready to be extracted from the tree. The green cherries are unripe. After removing ripe cherries, they are handed over to go through other processes so as not to get spoiled. 

These cherries are then dried by the dry method (without washing). However, this process is ancient but is helpful for the areas where water is deficient.

The farmer spreads the fresh cherries on the drying bed, several inches high from the ground. 

They leave these fruit cherries for 20 days or more, depending on the weather. It may take more weeks if the sun is not coming out properly due to clouds. These fruits are kept under the sunlight and are covered at night so as not to get moisture.

They are dried till the moisture in the fruits is less than 11%. At this stage, the fruit’s outer skin gets black and brittle. This helps in the easy extraction of the bean.

There is also a wet method in which these cherry fruits are washed and are passed through a machine that peels their skin without damaging the beans. For this soaking process, it should be ensured that all fruits are ripe.

When unripe fruits are processed, the pulps get mixed with coffee. To remove this mucilage, these need to be added into a large tank with an enzyme that dissolves the mucilage. It may take 24 hours for this process. These coffee beans are then dried for 1 or 2 days, and after it, these beans are sent to the mills for further process and packaging.