Coffee plant terminology maybe you do not know

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43 Factory Coffee Roaster sends readers attractive and interesting coffee plant terminology. Any industry has its own terms, coffee and coffee is no exception. Because it is a technical term, it is not too common. After a few minutes of learning, you will see how rich the coffee language and attractive the book is.

Coffee plant terminology

Here is some coffee plant terminology:

Coffee accession: A coffee tree or specimen (any part of the tree) that is collected or selected from a forest, semi-forest, or garden-coffee production system (or introduced from foreign countries) that is given a unique identification number and conserved in a laboratory or farm for further research purposes.

Coffee collection: The process of capturing the whole coffee genetic diversity present at a given geographical location.

Coffee genetic diversity: The genetic makeup variability among coffee trees.

Coffee hybrid: A variety that is a cross of two distinct parents. In plants, hybrids generally are considered varieties intentionally crossed by plant breeders, but this is not an absolute or agreed-upon definition, especially as hybridization can happen in the wild. A hybrid can be a cross of different varieties of the same species or a cross of different species. The trees being crossed are generally assumed to have very contrasting characteristics (e.g., disease resistance vs. high yield).

Coffee selection: The process of choosing a coffee tree from a given population based on superior performance for a specific trait of interest (e.g., high-yielding, disease-resistant, low-caffeine 1974 Ethiopian selection).

Cultivar: This refers to a “cultivated variety,” implying the intervention and propagation of the plant by human hands. Cultivars are considered to be bred to conform to a specific standard of traits. Cultivars can be singular varieties, hybrids, and natural mutations. Cultivars can-but are not expected to-breed “true to type.” This means cultivars are often bred using leaf cuttings and cloning techniques.

Father to a hybrid plant: This term is also known as “male parent.” Each coffee flower has both a male and female part. The male flower part is called the stamen and includes the anther and filament, while the female flower part is called the pistil. The pistil includes the stigma, style, ovary, and ovule. During coffee blossoming, the anther releases pollen grain (a white dusty particle known to carry the male gametic cell), and it lands on the very receptive sticky female flower part called the stigma. Then, pollen travels through a thin, tube-like structure of the female part called the style. Next, it reaches the ovary and fertilizes the egg cell produced in the ovule. When breeders select a coffee variety to be used as a father to a hybrid plant to be developed, they cut the whole flower part of the male parent and collect pollen grain in a laboratory. This male variety is used only to supply pollen grains.

Germplasm: Germplasm is living tissue from which new plants can be grown. This can be a seed, another plant part-a leaf, a piece of stem, or pollen-or even just a few cells (USDA, 1996).

Heirloom: A loosely defined term in plants that generally refers to a specific variety or selection of plant that has been passed down from one generation to another.

Landrace: A variety that has developed in some isolation and adapted to a specific geography and natural environment over time. Generally, a single cataloged landrace should be genetically uniform, but it may be more diverse than a standard breed or cultivar.

Mother coffee tree: A coffee tree from which seeds are collected for further investigation and selection to develop improved/modern varieties.

Mother to a hybrid plant: This term is more commonly known as “female parent” among plant breeders. When breeders identify a given variety to be used as a mother to a hybrid plant to be developed, they remove the male part of the flower from the female parent. This process is called “emasculation.” Then, the female parent or female plant remains only with the pistil, which is the female flower part. When all the flowers on the female plant are emasculated and ready to receive pollen grain collected from the male plant, breeders dust the pollen over the stigma of the female plant.

True to type: This refers to the fact that the offspring of a plant has a very similar genetic makeup and characteristics as the parents.

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