London Kew Gardens is one of the most respected coffee research institutions in the world. Kew researchers, led by Dr Aaron Davis, are studying lost and wild coffee species in the hope of finding answers to climate change, much of which we have written about before on Sprudge. Their latest research continues this search for a up-to-date, promising hybrid. Introducing Libex, a coffee hybrid of Excelsa and Liberica.
Published recently in the journal Nature Dr. Davis et al. examined 113 different hybrid varieties of Excelsa and Liberica from three different continents. Both species interbreed easily and have been found in countries in Southeast Asia, Central America, Africa and India. They are said to “exhibit intermediate characteristics and overlapping values of key agronomic traits” from their parent species.
First of all, a up-to-date hybrid, which they have formally named Coffee × libexcould expand potentially growing regions into areas where growing Arabica and Robusta is arduous or impossible.” Libex has also been shown to produce higher yields than Liberica, which would improve farmers’ profitability. And the thinner pulp and parchment promote easier and more competent post-harvest processing.
The study shows that Libex seeds are also smaller in size, more similar to Arabica beans, making them easier to process, roast and grind, and preliminary taste tests have shown that Libex is more palatable to coffee drinkers than Liberica. Libex is also believed to have Liberica’s resistance to leaf rust, which Excelsa typically does not have.
“The development and introduction of a wider range of coffee species and hybrids is likely to play a key role in sustainable coffee cultivation in an era of accelerating climate change,” the study said. “[These] hybrids also have the potential to expand the climatic envelope for successful coffee cultivation and to transfer disease resistance.”
This is another invigorating discovery. The future of coffee may exist beyond the Coffee Belt and beyond Arabica, and thanks to the work of Kew staff and their research partners, we may have some options.
