Their findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that Coffea arabica developed more than 600,000 years ago in the forests of Ethiopia via natural mating between two other coffee species.

Coffee’s story starts in the lush highlands of Ethiopia, the natural homeland of the delicate Coffea arabica plant. Although they are called “coffee beans”, the plant is not a legume ...

Indeed, studies have shown that coffee (Coffea arabica) and tea (Camellia sinensis) use different enzymes to generate caffeine—xanthine methyltransferases (XMT) and caffeine synthases (CS), ...