Posts Tagged ‘myrtaceae’
Coffea arabica - Coffee
Posted by: The Lorax in: ● October 13, 2008
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Coffee, growing in Vilcabamba, Loja Province. Native to Africa, coffee is one of the most immediately recognizable exports of Ecuador, and is grown throughout the country but in particularly high concentrations in the southern provinces. It begins life as a small shrub, maturing into a tree given time, and is very long-lived, producing beans for at least 50 years, and in well cared for plants up to 100 years. Coffee begins to fruit at about 3 years of age, producing simple, five-petalled flowers with a light jasmine odour along its stems at the base of the petioles. Once pollinated, these produce the coffee cherries, which ripen from green to red over a period of several months.
Coffee performs best at altitudes between 1200 and 1500 meters above sea level, in areas with moderate rainfall and lower humidity. It can be grown in both shade and full sun, the beans of the former variety being of better flavour and volatile oil content. The process of drying and processing coffee, from bean to grounds, is long and complicated, and interested parties would do well to check out the Wikipedia entry on it, which says it better than I could. In Ecuador, shade-grown coffee is normally from mixed plantations of mango and papaya, taller trees which produce the shadows, and which some say impart a subtle fruitiness to the flavour of the beans.
The best coffee in Ecuador comes from the shade plantations in Loja, particularly the slopes of the valleys of Vilcabamba and Malacatos, which have ideal climates for the trees. The main difference between the two valleys is the method of processing the beans; Vilcabamba carefully follows the traditional African procedure and removes husks by hand, while Malacatos tends to remove the bean husks by burning them, which accelerates the drying process and imparts a smoky flavour to the coffee.
Coffee, as is well known, contains caffeine, which can be therapeutic in low levels and damaging in high ones. Low doses of coffee are thought to be preventative of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and certain liver disorders, while most coffee drinkers are familiar with its negative side effects, namely the Java Jimjams.
Psidium guajava - Guava
Posted by: The Lorax in: ● May 22, 2008
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Guava tree, growing somewhere past the breach of the Pululagua Crater, Pichincha Province. Guava are small trees, growing to about 10 meters, and are grown primarily for their tasty and nutritious fruit. They are distinctive, with bark that peels off in fine layers revealing a multicoloured trunk. Flowers are simple and white, with a distinct scent, and leaves are broadly lanceolate and glossy. Propagation is by seed or cutting, and the tree is hardy to about 5 degrees centigrade.
The main reason to grow Guava is for the fruit, which is about the size of an apple, with a thick, bitter skin and seedy interior flesh that ranges in colour from white to deep red. This tree in particular gave fruits with a pale pink center. The flavour is strong and distinct, often compared to apple-passionfruit-strawberry. The entire fruit is edible, but the rind is so bitter that most people prefer to remove it and only eat the sweeter center. In Ecuador, guavas are eaten out of hand, and also processed into thick, sweet bars of chewy candy, boiled into marmalades, and juiced. Fresh guavas are a member of the grouping of Superfruits, and are extremely high in Vitamins A and C, omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, and soluble dietary fibre. They contain high levels of balanced minerals, potassium, and magnesium, and are remarkably nutritious while containing very few calories and having a low glycemic index. They are also very high in the antioxidants beta-carotene and polyphenols.
