Millions of people around the world are crazy about coffee. It is eaten with fondness in India also. However, you will be surprised to know that coffee has reached India from abroad.
Coffee is the most consumed beverage after tea. In the European country Finland, coffee is consumed daily like tea in every household. But do you know where coffee comes from?
You will be surprised to know that a Muslim saint brought coffee to India. If he had not been there, Indians might never have tasted coffee.
About 60 percent of the world’s coffee is made from the Arabica plant. These are mostly grown in African countries. But the story of its origin is interesting.
In research published in the journal Nature Genetics, scientists said that the Arabica plant did not exist. One million years ago, two other species of coffee evolved by interbreeding in the forests of Ethiopia. The wind brought the pollen of both sexes together and the Arabica plant was born.
State University biologist and research team member Victor Albert says that C. Arabica is a hybrid plant. It was prepared by pollen and with this the world famous coffee was born.
Earlier it was said that the coffee plant originated 10 thousand years ago. This theory was rejected by this team of scientists. “We conducted genetic research on Arabica seeds, which tells us that it originated between 60,000 and 1 million years ago,” the researchers said.
It is believed that its cultivation started earlier in Ethiopia. From there he started his business in the Middle East. Then it spread all over the world. By the 15th century it was a popular drink in the Middle East.
It is said that an Indian Sufi Muslim who visited Mecca brought seven seeds from Yemen to India. It was planted in the Chandragiri hills of Karnataka around 1670 and it was from here that coffee started in India. Today the Arabica plant is grown in more than 50 countries.
