All about coffeeUkers, William H. (William Harrison)
History
All about coffee
Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Coffee; Coffee Industry; Drinking customs
The coffee berry comprises about 68 percent pulp, 6 percent parchment,
and 26 percent clean coffee beans. The pulp is easily removed by
mechanical means; but in order to separate the soft, glutinous,
saccharine parchment, it is necessary to resort to fermentation, which
loosens the skin so that it may be removed easily, after which the
coffee is properly dried and aged. There is first a yeast fermentation
producing alcohol; and then a bacterial action giving mainly inactive
lactic acid, which is the main factor in loosening the parchment. For
the production of the best coffee, acetic acid fermentation (which
changes the color of the bean) and temperature above 60 deg. should be
avoided, as these inhibit subsequent enzymatic action.[105]
Various schemes have been proposed for utilizing the large amount of
pulp so obtained in preparing coffee for market. Most of these depend
upon using the pulp as fertilizer, since fresh pulp contains 2.61
percent nitrogen, 0.81 percent P_2_O_5, 2.38 percent potassium, and
0.57 percent calcium. One procedure[106] in particular is to mix pulp
with sawdust, urine, and a little lime, and then to leave this mixture
covered in a pit for a year before using. In addition to these mineral
matters, the pulp also contains about 0.88 percent of caffein and 18 to
37 percent sugars. Accordingly, it has been proposed[107] to extract the
caffein with chloroform, and the sugars with acidulated water. The
aqueous solution so obtained is then fermented to alcohol. The insoluble
portion left after extraction can be used as fuel, and the resulting ash
as fertilizer.
The pulp has been dried and roasted for use in place of the berry, and
has been imported to England for this purpose. It is stated that the
Arabs in the vicinity of Jiddah discard the kernel of the coffee berries
and make an infusion of the husk.[108]
Quality of green coffee is largely dependent upon the methods used and
the care taken in curing it, and upon the conditions obtaining in
shipment and storage. True, the soil and climatic conditions play a
determinative role in the creation of the characteristics of coffee, but
these do not offer any greater opportunity for constructive research and
remunerative improvement than does the development of methods and
control in the processes employed in the preparation of green coffee for
the market.
[Illustration: CROSS-SECTION OF THE ENDOSPERM OR HARD STRUCTURE OF THE
GREEN BEAN]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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