Potential Benefits of Coffee Cherry Applications to Agricultural Soils.

The domestic consumption of coffee has increased 57.6 % in all coffee exporting countries between 2000 and 2011. The consumption in all coffee importing countries between 2000 and 2010 increased 10.8 %. The world coffee production in 2011 was 7.9 million tons of coffee beans. To obtain 1 ton of coffee bean during the coffee processing 1 ton of coffee husk is generated. In other words, 50% of the coffee fruit is husk and every year has been produced 7.9 million tons of coffee husk. The objectives of this study were to examine the properties of various types of coffee husk and determine if they can be beneficial to soil quality or agricultural production with land application.  The mineral content of this by product was around 3, 1.5, 0.15, 0.30, 0.07, and 0.18% for K, N, P, Ca, and Mg, respectively; S, B, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe were 33, 14, 33, 9, and 172 mg/kg, respectively. Coffee husks were also rich in phenols (18%), lignin (21%), cellulose (34%) and hemicellulose (10%). The coffee husk nutrient content can vary according to the peel process. The wet and dry methods of coffee processing produce different types of coffee husk. Despite the content differences among coffee husks, the percent mineralization of coffee husk K after amending to soils, do not differ with coffee husk type and was above 92%. Results indicate that this by-product can be an important source of K and other nutrients in addition to adding organic matter. Utilization of coffee husk as a nutrient source and reduce fertilizer costs and potentially improve soil quality.