Coffea racemosa

Coffea racemosa, or racemosa coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It has naturally low levels of caffeine, less than half of that found in Coffea arabica, and a quarter of that in Robusta coffee. It is endemic to the coastal forest belt between northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Zimbabwe, found in an area less than 150 km2 (58 sq mi) in size.[1] It was widely cultivated by the Portuguese during the 1960-1970s in Mozambique, currently there are only two plantations at Ibo Island and in Hluhluwe, which remain.[2]

Coffea racemosa
Coffea racemosa berries
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Coffea
Species:
C. racemosa
Binomial name
Coffea racemosa
Lour. (1790)
Synonyms

Cofea ramosa J. J. Roemer & J. A. Schultes (1819)
Coffea mozambicana DC. (1830)
Coffea swynnertonii S. Moore (1911)

Coffea racemosa is a open-branched shrub or small tree growing up to 3.5 m (11 ft) tall. It has white to pinkish singular flowers (2 cm (1 in) in diameter) or in few-flowered clusters along the branches, which bloom between September and February.[3] The fruit is near-spherical in shape and purple to black when ripe. The fruit is harvested from the wild for local use as a coffee. The beans are one third of the size of Arabica beans. The beans are roasted and ground to a powder then used to make coffee, sometimes salt is sprinkled over them as they are roasted.[4][5]

A visual comparison of the Racemosa Bean, Liberica Bean and Arabica Bean

References
  1. Mapaura, A.; Timberlake, J., eds. (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants. Pretoria: Southern African Botanical Diversity Network. p. 71.
  2. Burrows, J. E.; Burrows, S. M.; Lötter, M. C.; Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique. Cape Town: Publishing Print Matters (Pty). p. 973.
  3. Bridson, D. M.; Verdcourt, B. (2003). Flora Zambesiaca. Rubiaceae, Part 3. p. 460-463.
  4. "Rare coffee plant could help communities - CNN Video" – via edition.cnn.com.
  5. Volk, Gayle; Byrne, Patrick (February 7, 2020). Crop Wild Relatives and their Use in Plant Breeding – via colostate.pressbooks.pub.


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