Coffee

The by-products of coffee processing are mainly coffee pulp, parchment husks and coffee husks. The main environmentally sustainable alternative uses include soil conditioner, fertilizer, mulch, animal feed, alcohol, bio gas, charcoal, heat energy, wax, and acids.

Coffee chaff from coffee roasting and spent coffee grounds from coffee manufacturing can also be used as CO2-neutral fuels. Spent coffee grounds from soluble coffee production can be burned as renewable fuel which replaces or reduces fossil fuel use for other production stages.

Four common sustainable coffee by-products include the following,

Composting

• Coffee pulp is a rich source of nutrients: 0.5% nitrogen; 0.15% phosphorus, and 0.5% potassium.
• Coffee pulp can be treated and used as organic fertilizer.
• Usually the coffee pulp is placed on piles and left to compost for about 3 to 12 months.
• During that time, coffee pulp turns into rich, black humus excellent for composting.
• Using organic fertilizers improves soil conditions and increases agricultural yield.
• Farmers save money otherwise spent buying inorganic fertilizers.

Mushroom planting soil

• Coffee pulp can also be used as planting soil for mushroom production.
• When used for this purpose, the coffee pulp is fermented for about two days.
• The coffee pulp is then pasteurized with hot water, drained, dried and mixed with mushroom spores.
• Next, the mixture is put in plastic bags with holes where the mushrooms develop for about 3 to 4 weeks.
• When the mushrooms grow out of the holes, they are collected.
• One bag allows for about 2 to 3 mushroom harvests.
• The fresh mushrooms are for table consumption or they can be dried for sale.
• The income from mushroom growing can be significant for the farmers who do this.

Animal feed supplement

• Coffee pulp is very rich in nutrients.
• Coffee pulp can be dried and used in animal feed.
• The pulp needs to be treated as quickly as possible to prevent the development of fungi.
• Usually, coffee pulp is treated with calcium hydroxide and dried under pressure.
• Another way to dry pulp, in the absence of industrial equipment, is to mix the coffee pulp with sugar cane molasses or other inorganic substances before storing the mix in silos.
• The resulting silage is available for use after 3 weeks and can remain stored for up to 18 months.
• The use of coffee pulp for this by-product appears to offer limited value because the cost of processing the pulp can exceed the gain derived from its use.
• The research on the effects of caffeine, potassium and other natural chemicals in the pulp on the health of animals is ongoing and will be influential for the future of this by-product.

Energy source for heat exchangers of coffee driers

• The most energy consuming step in coffee processing is drying.
• Sun drying is very common and offers many benefits but has drawbacks as well.
• Sun drying conserves energy, minimizes the use of fossil fuels and reduces costs.
• However, parchment coffee can be contaminated with dust and dirt during the sun drying process.
• Rainstorms happen without warning and are a challenge for farmers to prevent bean re-wetting which can promote bacterial infections and moldy growth.
• Because sun drying is time intensive, many coffee processors choose mechanical drying. The downside is that the cost to operate mechanical dryers is high and can cut down on margins.
• Using coffee parchment husks as the energy source for burners for heat exchangers of coffee driers is both a great environmentally friendly waste-recycling and energy-saving solution.

With international markets changing and the economic pressures mounting everywhere, crops such as coffee require innovative thinking to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness, quality and competitiveness. Sustainable coffee by-product development will continue to be a fast growing and important field of research.

What about drinking a delicious cup of Kona Extra Fancy Certified?

Timothy (“Tim”) S. Collins, the author, is called by those who know him “Gourmet Coffee Guy.” He is an expert in article writing who has done extensive research online and offline in his area of expertise, coffee marketing, as well as in other areas of personal and professional interest.

Come visit the author’s website: http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com

Copyright – Timothy S. Collins. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Author: Timothy S. Collins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Benefits of electric pressure cooker

The history of coffee dates back more than a thousand years and is as rich as the brew itself. It is believed that coffee plants originated on the shores of the Red Sea, in the Horn of Africa. Initially, coffee beans were eaten as a food, not drunk as a hot beverage. Tribes located in East African would grind the coffee cherries (the fruit containing the pulp and seed – what we now call the coffee bean) and mix the ground pulp with animal fat making a paste. This paste was eaten by tribal warriors to gain energy for battle. Ethiopians, around the year 1000 A.D., created a coffee wine by fermenting the bean in water. Coffee was also native to the Arabian Peninsula where, in the eleventh century, it was first taken as a hot drink.

Like wine during the first century, coffee developed a mystical, religious reputation. Many believed that the stimulating properties of coffee gave a religious ecstasy to those who consumed it. This drink became shrouded in secrecy and associated with the educated people of the times usually priests and physicians. Out of this environment two stories developed to explain the origin of this gift to man.

The most common history of coffee told relates a goat herder, named Kaldi, became frisky after eating the red cherries of a wild plant. After eating the fruit he was excited to feel the effects of caffeine, of course not knowing what that was. Later, it is told, he was spotted by some monks passing by dancing with his herd. After some experimentation, the monks created a drink by boiling the coffee bean. This beverage was consumed just before all-night ceremonies to keep the monks awake.

The second story that is popular involves a Muslim dervish who was sentenced to death by his enemies. He was forced to wander in the desert to die of starvation. During this time he heard a voice telling him to eat the fruit of what was a nearby wild coffee shrub. In his delirium he tried to soften the beans in water. When this failed he simply drank the soak water out of thirst. He was immediately invigorated and believed this to be a sign from God, returning to his homeland to share his discovery.

It was during the fifteenth century that coffee was first cultivated and the Arabian province of Yemen was the most prominent source of coffee. As demand grew past the boundaries of the Near East, the exportation of coffee went through the Yemeni port of Mocha, destined for Alexandria and Constantinople. This trade was lucrative and cloaked in secrecy. It was so closely guarded that no live plants were allowed to leave the country. The restrictions proved to be no match for those Muslim pilgrims who smuggled coffee plants back home after their trips to Mecca. Soon cultivation grew in India.

As trade routes flourished, coffee began to pass through the port of Venice where shipping fleets along the Spice Route brought Arabian merchants with tea, cinnamon, and other luxuries, including coffee. Liquid consumption became the most popular method with street vendors offering the hot beverages next to their cold ones, like lemonade. As Europeans traveled and experienced coffee in Arabia they also began to return home with this new and exotic drink.

The Dutch started the first plantation-styled coffee cultivation, during the seventeenth century, in their colonies in Indonesia primarily on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Bali. The French, taking a cutting from a coffee tree to Martinique, introducing the plant to the Caribbean and Latin America. Brazil became the worlds largest producer of coffee after a rare plant disease killed the coffee plants in Southeast Asia in the mid-nineteenth century.

It is interesting that today coffee is the second most traded commodity behind oil, and many of the nicknames we have for this drink, e.g. Java and Mocha come from locations that have played a prominent role in the history of our favorite beverage.

Lance Curtis is editor and contributor to TheCoffeeDrinker.com where coffee lovers gather with a cup of their favorite brew.

The Coffee Drinker uncovers those hard-to-find gourmet tidbits that coffee lovers, like you, enjoy.

Click the link to discover a world dedicated to you, The Coffee Drinker!
http://thecoffeedrinker.com/the-rich-history-of-coffee/

Author: J. Lance Curtis
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Low Cost, Quick Turn PCB Prototype