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Coffea canephora
Also called Congo Coffeetree, Nganda Coffee
In Singapore: Robusta Coffee, Rio Nunez Coffee, Congo Coffee Tree (Grown in Singapore)
Robusta coffee is a tree or shrub from central and western Africa, grown commercially for its beans, mostly for instant coffee. As a species of coffee, it grows best in warm, humid, wet tropical conditions.
Coffea canephora (especially C. canephora subvar. robusta, syn. Coffea robusta, or commonly robusta coffee) is a species of coffee plant that has its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa. It is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. Though widely known as Coffea robusta, the plant is scientifically identified as Coffea canephora, which has two main varieties, robusta and nganda (nom. illeg.).
Coffea canephora represents around 45% of global coffee production, with Coffea arabica constituting most of the remainder. There are several differences between the composition of coffee beans from C. arabica and C. canephora. Beans from C. canephora tend to have lower acidity, more bitterness, and a more woody and less fruity flavor compared to C. arabica beans. Most of it is used for instant coffee.
Robusta has its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa. It is easy to care for, has a greater crop yield, has almost double the amount of caffeine and more antioxidants, and is less susceptible to disease than arabica coffea. It represents 46% of global coffee production, with arabica constituting the remainder except for the 1.5% constituted by Coffea liberica. Microbial communities associated with C. canephora roots and fruits can influence plant health and its overall productivity.
It is mostly grown in Vietnam, where French colonists introduced it in the late 19th century, though it is also grown in India, Africa, and in Brazil, where the conilon variety is widely grown. In recent years, Vietnam, which produces mostly robusta, has become the world's largest exporter of robusta coffee, accounting for over 40% of the total production. It surpasses Brazil (25% of the world's production), Indonesia (13%), India (5%), and Uganda (5%). Brazil is still the biggest coffee producer in the world, producing one-third of the world's coffee, though 69% of that is C. arabica.
Coffea abbayesii · Coffea affinis · Arabian coffee · Bengal coffee · Coffea brassii · Coffea charrieriana · Excelsa Coffee · Coffea kapakata · Liberian coffee · Coffea magnistipula · Inhambane Coffee · Coffea
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coffea canephora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
