Beverages

David S. Seigler
Department of Plant Biology
University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA
seigler@life.illinois.edu
http://www.life.illinois.edu/seigler

OutlineBeverageplants
Importance
o historical
o economic
o recreational
Chemistry
Botanical
Most important crops
o coffee
o cacao
o tea
o others

Reading

CHAPTER 13 IN THE TEXT

Introduction
Many plant materials are used for
beverages. For example, the juices
of many fruits are drunk.
Popular beverage plants include
roselle or flor jamaica or roselle
(Hibiscus sabdariffa, Malvaceae),
rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis,
Fabaceae), tamarind (Tamarindus
indica, Fabaceae), and a number of
herbal teas.

Roselleorflorjamaica,Hibiscus
sabdariffa,Malvaceae

FieldofrooibosinSouthAfrica

B.E.vanWykandN.Gericke,PeoplesPlants,Briza,Pretoria,2000

B.E.vanWykandN.Gericke,Peoples
Plants,Briza,Pretoria,2000

Rooibostea

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica,

Fabaceae)

BentleyandTrimen,MedicinalPlants

Chamomile,Anthemisnobilis,Asteraceae

Stimulatingbeverages

However, coffee, tea, cacao,

and other stimulant-containing
beverages are extremely
popular and widely consumed.
Interestingly, the history of
use of these plants among most
Europeans only dates to the
1500s and 1600s.

 Tea and coffee are consumed daily by

at least 1/3 of the world's
population.
Table of beverages and the compounds
they contain p. 314. Also see table
on page 317.
Many of the beverages we drink
contain caffeine. These give the
consumer a general feeling of well
being. One of these beverages is
consumed by most people in the world
on a daily basis.

Coffee, Coffea arabica or C.

canephora (Rubiaceae)

The dried, fermented fruits

of Coffea arabica or C.
canephora (Rubiaceae) are
second only to petroleum in
the value of the material
traded annually on the
international market.
See coffee diagram on p. 317.

Growingofcoffeeseedlings

Coffeeplantationin
Venezuela.Notethe
legumeshadetrees.

MaturecoffeeinKenya

CourtesyDr.AbrahamKrikorian

DryingcoffeeinKenya

CourtesyDr.AbrahamKrikorian

 Coffee has up to 3% caffeine by

weight.
Coffee probably originated in
Ethiopia. The leaves, which also
contain caffeine, were originally
chewed. At some point, however,
people started using the fruits.
The plant was taken to the Arabian
peninsula about the 6th century. The
Arabs were the first to "brew
coffee".

 Coffee drinking didn't spread to

Europe until the 1600's.
This beverage became an important
aspect of social and political
development in England about 1650.
There were 3000 coffee houses in
1675; these institutions served as
forums for political and religious
debate. The king tried to have them
closed, but was not very successful.

 The Arabs monopolized the

coffee trade. They killed the
seeds before marketing them.
Eventually, however, the Dutch
acquired live seeds from
Mocha, the traditional source
of Arabic coffee. They started
plantations in Sri Lanka and
the East Indies and broke the
Arab monopoly.

 Coffee was taken to the West Indies

about 1723. From a tree taken from
Paris to Martinique in 1723, coffee
spread through the western hemisphere.
Brazil leads the world in coffee
production.

 Coffea arabica accounts for about

90% of world's trade in coffee.
Importantly, the coffee from Coffea
arabica has the best flavor.
C. arabica is a self-compatible
polyploid.
Coffea canephora accounts for
another 9%. C. liberica accounts for
about 1%. Both are more productive
and more disease resistant.
Coffea canephora and C. liberica are
self-incompatible diploids.
C. canephora is used often to make
instant coffee. This species is
preferred in some parts of Africa.

 The fruit of coffee is a type of

berry (inferior ovary).
The seeds are removed from the
fruits and are the part used to
prepare the beverage. Coffee fruits
are often called "beans".
Coffee is usually cultivated in
tropical and subtropical latitudes.
It prefers rich soils and high
rainfall, with a seasonally dry
period.
A plant produces fruit after 3 years
and until the plant is about 40
years old.

 The plants are often shaded in

plantations, but open orchards are
used as well. Many of the shade
trees are legumes and fix nitrogen.
The best coffee usually comes from
areas with cool nights.
Coffee is seldom harvested
mechanically. The best coffee comes
from berries picked just when ripe.

 The seeds are separated from the

outer portion of the fruit by
either a wet or dry process. In the
dry process, the fruits are dried
and the outer portion abraded away.
See diagrams p. 319 and 321.
In the wet process, the fruits are
depulped by a machine and the seeds
washed.

 The wet seeds are allowed to

ferment for 12-24 hours. After
fermentation, the seeds are
dried for about a week.
The remaining endocarp and the
seed coats are removed
mechanically.
Roasting is also essential to
development of flavor of the
final product. The temperature
and time of roasting are
important.

 In recent years instant and

freeze dried coffee have become
extremely popular and account for
a large part of the market.
Much instant coffee is made by
flash drying.
"Aroma components" are added to
give the product enhanced flavor
and odor.

 Decaffeinated coffee is also

important.
In 1981, this form of the
beverage accounted for about 17%
of the coffee drunk in the U.S.
The caffeine is removed from
green coffee beans by solvent
extraction, water extraction, or
steam extraction.
Methylene chloride is often used
as the extraction solvent.

 There are many serious

disease problems with coffee.
These have made it difficult
to grow Coffea arabica in
many parts of Africa and
these diseases now have been
introduced into Brazil.

Cacao, Theobroma cacao

(Malvaceae) (formerly
Sterculiaceae)

Cacao is native to the Americas.

Although considered as a beverage
in this lecture, eating chocolate
is more important than the
beverage today.
The plant, Theobroma cacao is a
small tree.
Cacao was a quite different
beverage to the Indians of Central
America than it is to us today.
See diagram p. 325.

Cacaoflowers,
Theobromacacao,
Malvaceae

CourtesyAxelWalther

Cacaofruits,Theobroma
cacao,Malvaceae

CourtesyAxelWalther

Cacaofruit,Theobromacacao,Malvaceae

CourtesyAxelWalther

 When Columbus and his men landed in

Nicaragua, they reported seeing the
Indians drinking a strange beverage.
Cortez reported on the importance of
cacao in the Aztec court. Quetzlcoatl
gave cacao to the Indians.
Cacao was cultivated in Mexico by
about the 7th century.

 The beans were roasted and mixed

with ground achiote, Bixa
orellana (Bixaceae). Red pepper
was also added. The whole mixture
was cooked into a paste and made
into tablets. The drink was made
by putting these tablets into
water. This beverage was often
thickened by adding atole.

 Not surprisingly, Europeans didn't

like this drink too much. They added
sugar and left out the chili
peppers. In the middle 1600's,
chocolate drinks were extremely
popular in Europe. The Spanish had a
monopoly on the chocolate trade.
The Dutch broke the Spanish monopoly
by establishing plantations in
southeast Asia in 1670.
Cacao was introduced into Africa in
1878 and today most cacao is
produced in Africa.

 The pods are harvested, opened, and

the seeds and pulp removed. The
seeds are allowed to ferment for 4
to 7 days. Water loss causes them
to shrink from the seed coats.
See diagram p. 325.
The pulp is liquified by microbes,
and the seeds inside are then dried
and polished. Subsequently, the
seeds are shipped.

Cacaoseedsundergoingfermentation

CourtesyAxelWalther

Dryingcacaoseeds

CourtesyAxelWalther

 As for coffee, roasting is an

important part of development of
cacao flavor. The chocolate flavor
only develops during this part of the
processing.
The seed coats are removed.
The seed coats and seeds can be
extracted to produce a lipid known as
cocoa butter (about 30% of the
cotyledons). This substance is used
in other food products and in
pharmaceuticals.
The seeds contain theobromine, a
compound with similar properties to
caffeine.

 Chocolate is made by making the nibs

or cotyledons into a paste. In the
Dutch process, the cocoa butter is
separated and dry cocoa powder
produced. The acids are neutralized
with alkalai. About 90% of all cocoa
is produced this way.
The English devised adding milk to
cocoa as a beverage.
The Swiss started adding milk to the
cocoa to make milk chocolate. Cocoa
butter is re-added to make the
product more creamy.

Tea, Camellia sinensis,

Theaceae
Tea is drunk by a larger number
of people than coffee, but does
not have as high dollar value.
Most tea is consumed locally
and comparatively small
quantities enter international
trade.

 The exact origin of tea, Camellia

sinensis (Theaceae), is obscure,
but the plant appears to have
arisen in China.
The first book on tea was written
in 780 B.C. Tea came to Japan in
593 B.C.
The Mongols got tea from the
Chinese and traded it across Asia.
The Russians got tea in this way.

Tea,Camelliasinensis,
Theaceae

Teaplantationsand
harvestinginKenya
(upper)andIndonesia
(lower)

CourtesyDr.AbrahamKrikorian

TeaharvestinginSriLanka

CourtesyDr.GuidoHolzkamp

 Europeans first got into tea when

the Portuguese brought it back
from China.
In the 1700's tea had become an
important item of trade. Both the
British and Dutch bought tea in
the Orient and sold it in Europe.
People drank tea predominately in
the English colonies in America
until the Boston Tea Party; then
coffee became a more popular
beverage.
Tea is of course still very
popular in England.

 The British started planting tea in

India about 1818. Sri Lanka has been
the second most important tea
producer, but tea production there
only started after the coffee rust
wiped out coffee in 1880.
Because of the hand labor, tea is not
grown extensively in the U.S. or most
other countries in the Western
Hemisphere (some is grown in
Argentina).

 The plants are evergreen; they

require lots of rainfall and a
constant cool temperature.
Only the two or three youngest
leaves are used for good quality
tea.
For green tea the leaves are dried
fairly quickly to stop most enzyme
activity.

 For black teas, the leaves are allowed

to wither, and rolled or twisted
(broken) and then allowed to ferment
for several hours. This modifies the
tannins and polyphenols in the leaves.
The tea is then fired or heated to
stop further enzyme action.
Oolong teas are semifermented.
See outline of tea manufacture p. 329.

Tealeavesmovinginto
processingareaanda
teabreaking
machine

CourtesyDr.GuidoHolzkamp

Teaovensandteagrading
machine
CourtesyDr.GuidoHolzkamp

Yerba mat (Ilex paraguayensis,

Aquifoliaceae)
Mat is a common beverage of
southern South America. The Indians
of much of South America used mat
at one time.
As it true for tea, the leaves of
yerba mat are used. The leaves and
small twigs are heated over a fire
and then allowed to stand for a
period of time. The leaves, small
twigs, and stems are crushed and
used to make a tea like beverage.

Yerbamat,Ilex
paraguaiensis,
Aquifoliaceae

Yerbamatinflower

 Mat is traditionally drunk

from a gourd, or mat, filled
with plant material. Hot
water is added. The "straw"
is called a bombilla.

Ilexvomitoria,
nativetothe
southeasternU.S.
wasusedto
prepareblack
drinkandused
ceremoniallyby
Indiansofthe
SoutheasternU.S.

Guaran,
Paullinia cupana (Sapindaceae)
The seeds of Paullinia cupana
(Sapindaceae) are used to make a
beverage called guaran.
This plant was originally from
the Amazonian region of Brazil.
Guaran is rich in caffeine. The
ground seeds are made into a
paste that sets up like a brick.

Guaran,Paullinia
cupana,Sapindaceae

R.BentleyandH.Trimen,MedicinalPlants, London,

 A small amount of this material is

rasped off and mixed with hot water
to make the beverage guaran.
Guaran is second only to coffee as
the most popular drink in Brazil.
A soft drink prepared with this
material is similar to cola flavors.

Kola, (Cola nitida, Sterculiaceae)

Kola, a relative of cacao (Cola
nitida, Sterculiaceae) is used to
prepare the flavor of cola
beverages.
The seeds of the plant are also
fermented in the manufacture of
the flavoring.
Cola is native to West Africa
where it has been used for a long
time.

Cola,Colaacuminata,Sterculiaceae

Colafruits,Colanitida,
Sterculiaceae

Colaseeds,Colaacuminata,Sterculiaceae

 The pulp of the fruits is also

eaten in many African countries.
The seeds are dried and ground to
make a beverage in West Africa.
This plant also contains
caffeine.

Kava kava, (Piper methysticum,

Piperaceae)
Kava kava (Piper methysticum,
Piperaceae) is an important
beverage plant in the South
Pacific. It as an integral part
of social and religious life
there.

Rootsofkavakava

CourtesyDr.SidGlassman

Pulverizingkavakavaroots

CourtesyDr.SidGlassman

Maceratingkava
kavarootsinwater

CourtesyDr.SidGlassman

Wringingjuicefrom
kavakavaroots

CourtesyDr.SidGlassman