What happens after harvest? The journey of a coffee cherry

Many of you likely know that coffee is the seed of a plant called the coffee tree. But do you know what happens to the pulp of the coffee fruit? This time, we'll introduce what happens to coffee cherry, the often-forgotten coffee pulp, after it's harvested!

What is a Coffee Cherry?

First of all, a coffee cherry is a small fruit that grows on the coffee tree plant. When ripe, some varieties turn yellow, but most become a beautiful bright red, hence the name "coffee cherry." The coffee fruit is broadly composed of six parts.

Seed

This is the "coffee bean" part, making up 20% of the fruit. Usually, there are two seeds per fruit.

Silverskin

A thin skin that envelops the seed.

Parchment (Endocarp)

A slightly hard skin that protects the seed.

Mucilage

A sweet, honey-like substance that coats the entire bean.

Pulp

Fruit pulp rich in moisture and sugar.

Outer skin (Exocarp)

A thick outer skin. It's hard enough to bite through with your teeth.

As mentioned in our previous column, "Washed? Natural? What is Coffee Processing?," coffee cherries are removed during coffee production. Ultimately, only the seed remains. While the pulp itself has a delicious, sweet and sour cherry-like taste, it's rarely traded as a fruit due to its small edible portion and the fact that the main product is the bean. The removed pulp and outer skin, called "cascara" (meaning "husk" in Spanish), are often discarded.

Uses for Cascara

It's a waste to discard the large amount of cascara produced during processing, so it's sometimes utilized after processing. So, what happens to the removed coffee cherries? Here are some examples of its uses!

Cascara for the Future

The primary use for cascara is as fertilizer or compost, and this is the most common method. The skin and pulp removed during processing are left for a while, then spread around trees or mixed with soil and animal manure to ferment, and used as fertilizer or compost. At a cooperative processing plant in Costa Rica that a staff member previously visited, processed cascara was piled up, and producers were seen taking it home in large tanks.

1. Producers belonging to the cooperative can freely take this cascara home and use it for their own coffee production.

Enjoying Coffee Cherries

Although coffee cherries have very little pulp and are difficult to enjoy as a fruit, there are ways to enjoy them other than eating the pulp. One way is to make tea from them! It's called Coffee Cherry Tea. It's brewed using coffee cherries that have been carefully sun-dried after being removed during the processing stage. When drunk straight, it has a subtle, cherry-like fruitiness. It's also delicious with syrup or honey. Although it contains caffeine, the amount is less than in coffee, so you can drink it with peace of mind. It's also rich in polyphenols, so it's expected to have antibacterial properties, making it a drink that cleanses your body from the inside out! In addition to tea, there are also products made with coffee cherries such as syrups, and cascara sugar and cascara flour, which incorporate coffee cherries mixed with sugar or wheat, which can be used in baking! Recently, these products can be easily found at some stores, so if you come across them, please give them a try! Coffee cherries are rarely seen in Japan. They may seem like unnecessary material removed during coffee production, but their uses are diverse. In recent years, various products using coffee cherries have been developed, and I believe it will become easier to enjoy coffee not only for its beans but also for its pulp. It might be interesting to focus on coffee cherries as a new way to enjoy coffee!