The coffee bean borer has impacted production around the world including Hawaii. But there is good news: How Coffee Berry Borers Survive on Caffeine : USDA ARS Vega and his colleagues analyzed coffee berry borers from seven coffee-producing regions (Guatemala, Hawaii, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Puerto Rico), as well as from Vega's laboratory-reared colony in Beltsville, Maryland. They removed the digestive tracts from the tiny beetles and placed them in a caffeine-rich medium, where only bacteria that degraded caffeine would survive, to see which bacteria would grow. Scientists found 14 bacterial species that degraded and detoxified caffeine were present. One of those species, Pseudomonas fulva, was the most prevalent. To confirm that the bacteria degrade caffeine, Vega and his team gave the beetles an antibiotic to wipe out the bacteria and fed those beetles a diet based on coffee beans. The caffeine passed through the beetles' digestive tracts intact, without degrading, but their capability to produce eggs and larvae declined 95 percent. The scientists then added the caffeine-digesting P. fulva bacteria back into the beetles' diets and found that their feces were devoid of caffeine, which showed that the bacteria are key to the detoxification process. An interesting approach, spraying the plants with antibiotics to clean the guts of the pests . . . hummm, would it work on other critters whose gut microbes are key to their specialized diet? Bob Wilson
Only by the loosest of reasoning is this at all related to Bob's post, but: Stiff Bull aphrodisiac coffee slapped with FDA warning | Fox News
Other than Hawaii and Puerto Rico, coffee isn't a cash crop in the U.S. It's very labor intensive, as in cheap labor. So, why is the USDA involved ? How about spending our taxpayer money on researching crops grown by our farmers ?
Using antibiotics willy nilly has already caused enough problems. Perhaps we are looking at this because of the ungodly number of Americans that drink coffee. And we do spend money on crops grown in the mainland; how do you think we ended up with corn syrup in everything? ARS work has lead to the development of dehydrated potatoes, frozen concentrated orange juice, and Lactaid, among other things.
Right on point, imo: "Using antibiotics willy nilly has already caused enough problems. " USDA has been researching this for at least a dozen years. "Stopping the Coffee Berry Borer From Boring Into Profits" was published in the November 2004 issue of Agricultural Research magazine."
Why do Hawaii and Puerto Rico not qualify for USDA attention? Do only folks in the continental-48 qualify?
That brand is "Kopi Luwak" and very expensive. The other one makes a warm, brown fluid that encourages one to pee. Bob Wilson
While we're on the subject of coffee, does it strike anyone else as odd that we take one of the world's most popular commodities, rinse it in hot water, and throw it away?
My household doesn't drink coffee. But I thank the area's coffee drinkers for buying and donating to us some great garden slug repellent.
I compost my coffee grounds too, but it still strikes me as wasteful. What does a big company like Starbuck's do? They must generate massive quantities.
