A coffee bean is part of a seed from the cherry of a coffee tree. While often referred to as a bean or a cherry, a coffee bean is actually neither. Instead it is a drupe, which is closer in nature to the pit of a peach or a cherry.
Generally, the seed consists of two halves (although it may contain as many as three parts), each with one flat side and one rounded side. Occasionally, a cherry will contain a single rounded bean, commonly referred to as a peaberry. The bean is surrounded by a thin skin, referred to as parchment[1]. The bean itself often has a greenish hue to it prior to being processed and roasted.
The structure of a coffee bean.
References
- ↑ William H. Ukers (1922). “The Microscopy of the Coffee Fruit”, All about Coffee, 149.
This article is a stub. Like an empty coffeepot, it needs more content.