COFFEA 



ARABICA 



Trade 



Mixing. 



Chicory. 

 Adulterants. 



Examination. 



Negro 

 Coffee. 



Standards. 



Caffeine. 



Percentage. 



Specific Gravity 

 of Berries. 



Colour. 



Odour. 



Yield. 



THE COFFEE PLANT 



consumption. When taxed abnormally high, adulteration prevails. But 

 this is often safeguarded by special legislation such as the French 

 enactments that prohibit the vendor from mixing. In England, on the 

 other hand, mixing is so much in vogue that it is often difficult to procure 

 pure coffee. " Our Coffee Mixture " may contain any adulteration con- 

 ceivable, with perhaps not more than 5 per cent, of coffee. This is the 

 natural consequence of legalising mixtures. Criminality consists alone 

 in selling as " pure coffee " an article that contains anything but coffee. 

 Legally " Chicory " may be the roasted chicory root itself, or the root of 

 an allied plant or other vegetable substance applied for the same purpose. 



The substances mostly employed in adulteration of coffee are the roots 

 of chicory, dandelion, mangold- wurzel, turnips, parsnips, and carrots. 

 The seeds of beans, peas, date-stones, malt rye, burnt sugar, biscuits, 

 locust-beans, figs, etc., are all used. Roasted flour coloured with ferru- 

 ginous earth and flavoured with the grounds of exhausted coffee or of other 

 even more objectionable substances are often sold as coffee. There seems 

 every reason for believing that the decline of the demand for coffee through- 

 out the world is largely a consequence of the difficulty in obtaining the 

 pure article. For further particulars regarding coffee adulteration confer 

 Chicory and Coffee, a lithographed report by J. D. Hooker, John Lindley, 

 Thomas Graham, John Stenhouse, Dugald Campbell, William B. Carpenter 

 and A. S. Taylor, issued by the Inland Revenue office in 1853. This gives 

 the microscopic structure and chemical tests by which the adulterants of 

 coffee may be recognised, and although more recent publications exist on 

 this subject, hardly any are more accurate and authoritative. [Of. Food 

 Journal, March 1870, Dec. 1873 ; Clifford, Journ. Soc. Arts ; and Hanausek, 

 Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, transl.), 1907, 271-4.] 



The seeds of several species of Cfissia are used as coffee substitutes 

 under the name of Negro Coffee. [Cf. Hooper, Rept. Labor. Ind. Mus., 

 1900-1, 23-4.] For " Malt Coffee," consult Hanausek (I.e. 354). 



TRADE IN INDIAN COFFEE. 



Commercial Tests. The value of coffee depends upon many circum- 

 stances, such as form of the berry, its size, colour, smell, flavour, age, and 

 uniformity. One of the greatest difficulties is to discover a standard by 

 which merit may be definitely determined. Were it possible to fix a stan- 

 dard, the planters could aim at a definite article. Much has been done in 

 India by Mr. Leeming, Dr. Lehmann and others in this direction, and it is 

 believed their efforts may soon be rewarded. Lehmann found that the 

 quantity of the alkaloid CAFFEINE was no evidence of quality. Caffeine 

 (as shown by M. Bertrand) varies greatly. In Cojf'ea tiralnca it ranges 

 from 0'83 to T60 per cent. ; in C. liberica between 1'06 and T45 per 

 cent. ; and in C. stenophylla between 1'52 and T70 per cent. In a 

 series of specimens specially analysed, those that had the highest specific 

 gravity and contained the most nitrogen and phosphoric acid brought the 

 highest price. Colour seems to depend more on the degree of ripeness when 

 collected, and the care taken in manufacture, than on the nature of the 

 soil or the class of plant grown. As a general rule the Old World coffees 

 are inclined to turn yellow, and the New World green. Weight de- 

 creases with age and by overdrying. Odour is perhaps the most important 

 criterion, and apparently it can alone be determined by expert opinion. 



Yield and Cost of Production and Price Realised. Under the para- 

 graph devoted above to " Localities and Area " will be found all the 



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