Many of us drink coffee because it makes us feel good and gives us a boost in the morning. Caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee has a number of positive effects, including increased alertness, which it does by blocking a chemical messenger in the brain that makes us sleepy.
Some cultures swear by this ‘pick me up’. I recall ‘shots’ during a working trip to Barcelona, grabbing a double espresso hit in the morning rush hour with the locals. I remember how jittery I felt. Ironically, I was there to study artery health. So what was happening? The caffeine was tightening my arteries and stimulating my central nervous system, but I was happy because serotonin was rushing through my veins.
Positive health effects from coffee
Did you know drinking one large coffee in the morning, or even smaller amounts throughout the day, will make you more effective at hard tasks? Yes, that’s true. Drinking coffee over the long term has even been suggested to reduce the risk of neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This could be in part due to coffee’s high concentration of antioxidants. However, like any stimulant, overuse has opposite and negative effects.
Who is growing this crop in CEA?
Coffee arabica grows easily in plant tissue culture, which helps to eliminate viruses and scale for field production. It also secures a very narrow genetic base which needs to be diversified to protect one of our favorite drinks.
Placing red/blue LED lights over this crop will efficiently stimulate growth and nice shiny leaves.
Once coffee plants are transferred from a tissue culture lab, they can be acclimated using CEA in a greenhouse before being transplanted to the field. Photo taken by Chris Higgins at a research farm in California.
Janet Colston PhD is pharmacologist with an interest in growing ‘functional’ foods that have additional phytonutrients and display medicinal qualities that are beneficial to human health. She grows these using a range of techniques including plant tissue micropropagation and controlled environmental agriculture to ensure the highest quality control.