Charrier coffee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Charrier coffee |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Coffea
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| Species: |
charrieriana
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Coffea charrieriana, also known as Charrier coffee, is a special type of flowering plant in the Coffea family. It's super unique because it's a caffeine-free coffee plant! This plant is found only in Cameroon, a country in Central Africa.
It was the first caffeine-free Coffea plant ever found in Central Africa, and only the second one discovered in all of Africa. The first one was found in Kenya and is called C. pseudozanguebariae. In 2008, a group of scientists and experts even voted C. charrieriana as one of the top 10 new species discovered that year!
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What Kind of Plant Is It?
Coffea charrieriana belongs to the Rubiaceae family, which is a large group of flowering plants. It's part of the Coffea genus, which includes all coffee plants.
There are about 120 different kinds of Coffea plants growing in warm, tropical parts of Africa and Asia. However, almost all the coffee we drink comes from just two types: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. These two make up 99% of all coffee grown around the world!
Where Does It Live?
This special coffee plant grows only in West Cameroon, specifically in the Bakossi Forest Reserve. It loves wet rainforests and grows on rocky slopes. You can find it at an altitude of about 160 meters, with its main home being around 300 meters high.
Sadly, this plant is in danger. Its home, the lowland forest, is being cut down for logging and to make room for palm oil farms. This deforestation is a big threat to Coffea charrieriana.
How Was It Discovered?
Coffea charrieriana was officially discovered in 2008. The findings were shared in a science paper called “A new caffeine-free coffee from Cameroon.” The scientists who wrote the paper, Piet Stoffelen and Francois Anthony, named the plant after Professor A. Charrier. He worked very hard for many years on coffee research and collecting different coffee plants.
The first samples of C. charrieriana were actually collected way back in 1985! Scientists gathered cuttings from the Bakossi Forest Reserve in Cameroon. They collected about 70 other Coffea species at the same time. Even though C. charrieriana looked different from other coffee plants, it wasn't studied closely until 1997.
In 1997, the cuttings were sent to a research institute. There, scientists looked at its seeds, leaves, and even its chemistry. But it took until 2008, after more detailed studies of its looks and genes, for it to be officially recognized as a brand new Coffea species. Scientists believe C. charrieriana separated from its ancestors about 11.15 million years ago!
What Does It Look Like?
Coffea charrieriana can grow into a shrub or small tree, reaching 5 to 10 meters (about 16 to 33 feet) tall and spreading 5 to 7 meters wide. The smaller shrub parts are usually 1 to 1.5 meters high.
Its leaves are small and thin, shaped like an ellipse. They are smooth and don't have any hairs. The leaves are about 4–8 centimeters long and 2.2–3.5 centimeters wide. This plant's leaves are thinner and have fewer main veins than most other Coffea species, especially those from Central Africa.
The plant produces 1 or 2 flower clusters per stem. Each cluster has one flower. The fruits are red and fleshy, like small berries, and are about 9–10 millimeters long. Each fruit contains two coffee seeds.
The flowers are white and have 5 petals. They don't have a stalk. The flower parts, like the anthers and style, stick out. The way its flowers look is very typical for the Coffea family.
Why Is It Caffeine-Free?
Scientists studied the seeds of Coffea charrieriana and found they have no caffeine. This caffeine-free trait is often seen in Coffea species from Madagascar. In fact, studies show that 30 out of 47 Coffea species from Madagascar have very little or no caffeine.
C. charrieriana is the second caffeine-free species found, the other being C. pseudozanguebariae from Kenya. Scientists think the lack of caffeine might be due to a problem in how the plant makes proteins. Even though the plants have the genes to make caffeine, a small mistake in their process means caffeine isn't produced.
Instead of caffeine, C. charrieriana produces a substance called theobromine. This discovery has helped scientists understand more about how coffee plants make caffeine. It also opens the door to creating new types of decaf coffee by mixing caffeine-free plants with regular ones. They might even be able to remove the caffeine-making gene from regular coffee plants!
Compared to other coffee plants, C. charrieriana has less of certain fatty acids. Genetic studies also show that C. charrieriana is genetically different from other coffee species found in the same area. It even has the largest chloroplast genome (a part of the plant's genetic material) within the Coffea family.
How Can We Use It?
Coffea charrieriana likes to grow in wet, sunny places. After it rains, its flower buds open up, and the plant blooms within about 7 days.
Just like other coffee species, the fleshy fruit of C. charrieriana contains edible beans. These beans can be dried, roasted, and ground to make coffee. Since it's naturally caffeine-free, it's a great option for people who want to drink coffee without caffeine, instead of having to use decaffeinated coffee that has been treated with chemicals.
There's a growing demand for decaf coffee. C. charrieriana could be used to create new types of coffee through hybridization (mixing different plant types). This could help make new coffee beans with naturally lower caffeine levels. In fact, developers in Brazil are already working on making the first naturally caffeine-free coffee available to buy, calling it Decaffito!
Another possible use for C. charrieriana is to extract special antioxidant compounds from its leaves. These natural antioxidants could be used in food and health products.
A farm in Costa Rica called Coffea Diversa Farm is currently growing C. charrieriana.
