{ "id": "coffea-canephora", "url": "https://coffearium.org/entries/coffea-canephora/", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "title": "Coffea canephora (robusta)", "summary": "The species behind robusta coffee, about two-fifths of the world crop. A lowland African tree that cannot pollinate itself, so it is grown from clones and mixed plantings, and it holds more caffeine than arabica.", "domain": "botany", "kind": "Species", "stage": "plant", "topics": [], "topicSections": {}, "lang": "en", "status": "verified", "reviewer": "Coffearium verification pass", "lastVerified": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z", "updated": "2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z", "added": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z", "brief": [ "Robusta coffee comes from *Coffea canephora*; “robusta” began as the name of a separately described plant and is now listed as a synonym.1", "The species is diploid (2n = 22) and outcrossing; arabica (2n = 44) descends from a cross with *C. eugenioides*.2", "Self-incompatibility means farms plant several compatible clones together, or seed from controlled crosses.7,5", "A 2020 yield study puts robusta’s optimum temperature below 20.5 °C, cooler than earlier estimates.9", "The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts 83.8 million 60-kg bags of robusta for 2026/27, led by Vietnam and Brazil.16" ], "quickFacts": [ { "label": "Family", "value": "Rubiaceae, genus Coffea" }, { "label": "Chromosomes", "value": "2n = 2x = 22 (diploid)" }, { "label": "Breeding system", "value": "Self-incompatible, outcrossing" }, { "label": "Native range", "value": "West tropical Africa to South Sudan and northern Angola (POWO)" }, { "label": "Share of world production", "value": "≈44% (USDA forecast 2026/27)" }, { "label": "Largest producer", "value": "Vietnam, 31.4 million bags of robusta (2026/27 forecast)" } ], "aka": [ "Robusta", "Robusta coffee", "Conilon", "Canephora" ], "linkTerms": [ "robusta", "Coffea canephora", "C. canephora", "conilon", "fine robusta" ], "related": [ "coffea-genus", "coffea-arabica", "liberica-and-excelsa", "caffeine", "site-selection-and-climate", "arabica-varieties", "coffee-futures", "green-coffee-grading", "arabica-or-robusta", "polyploidy-and-the-arabica-genome", "flowering-and-pollination", "fruit-development", "coffea-eugenioides" ], "contested": [ "Temperature optimum: a 2006 review gives an optimum annual mean of 22–26 °C, or 24–30 °C after another author10; a 2020 study of yields on 798 farms puts the optimum below 20.5 °C.9 The older figures are compiled from earlier literature; the newer one was derived from yield records.", "Chlorogenic acids by species: a 2001 study of wild accessions and a roasting chemistry chapter report more chlorogenic acids in *C. canephora*12,14; a 2021 meta-analysis in a master’s thesis finds the chlorogenic acid profiles of the two species very similar and roast level more important than species, except for total feruloylquinic and dicaffeoylquinic acids.15" ], "corrections": [ { "date": "2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z", "change": "Chlorogenic acids by species: the meta-analysis view is now cited to the author's master's thesis (UC Davis 2021) instead of an SCA News interview, and restated as in the thesis (very similar profiles; roast level matters more than species except for total FQA and diCQA).", "reason": "The interview was a news item that may not stand alone, and the thesis does not state \"not statistically significant\"." } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "title": "Coffea canephora Pierre ex A.Froehner", "authors": "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew", "year": 2026, "publisher": "Plants of the World Online (World Checklist of Vascular Plants)", "url": "https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:747068-1", "tier": "A", "quote": "The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to South Sudan and N. Angola.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s2", "title": "The coffee genome provides insight into the convergent evolution of caffeine biosynthesis", "authors": "Denoeud, F.; Carretero-Paulet, L.; Dereeper, A.; et al.", "year": 2014, "publisher": "Science 345(6201), 1181–1184", "url": "https://pages.uoregon.edu/chendon/coffee_literature/old_literature/2014%20Science,%20Robusta%20genome%20and%20caffeine%20production.pdf", "doi": "10.1126/science.1255274", "tier": "A", "quote": "an outcrossing, highly heterozygous diploid", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s3", "title": "Effectiveness of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers in Genotyping Germplasm Collections of Coffea canephora Using KASP Assay", "authors": "Akpertey, A.; Padi, F. K.; Meinhardt, L.; Zhang, D.", "year": 2021, "publisher": "Frontiers in Plant Science 11, 612593", "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.612593/pdf", "doi": "10.3389/fpls.2020.612593", "tier": "A", "quote": "C. canephora is predominantly an outcrossing crop.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s4", "title": "Global analysis of Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner (Rubiaceae) from the Guineo-Congolese region reveals impacts from climatic refuges and migration effects", "authors": "Cubry, P.; De Bellis, F.; Pot, D.; Musoli, P.; Leroy, T.", "year": 2013, "publisher": "Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 60(2), 483–501", "url": "https://agritrop.cirad.fr/567363", "tier": "A", "quote": "An overall structure of two main groups (Guinean and Congolese)", "abstractOnly": true, "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s5", "title": "The Coffee Tree – Genetic Diversity and Origin", "authors": "Herrera, J. C.; Lambot, C.", "year": 2017, "publisher": "In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 1, pp. 1–16", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00001-3", "doi": "10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00001-3", "tier": "B", "quote": "Breeding strategies in Robusta are determined by the strict self-incompatibility of the species and by consequence the objectives will be to select clones vegetatively propagated or clonal hybrids propagated by seeds and obtained under controlled pollination.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s6", "title": "Cultivating Coffee Quality – Terroir and Agro-Ecosystem", "authors": "Lambot, C.; Herrera, J. C.; Bertrand, B.; Sadeghian, S.; Benavides, P.; Gaitán, A.", "year": 2017, "publisher": "In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 2, pp. 17–49", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00002-5", "doi": "10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00002-5", "tier": "B", "quote": "Native territories of Coffea canephora stretch from Central Africa to the Gulf of Guinea and Uganda.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s7", "title": "Characterization of gametophytic self-incompatibility of superior clones of Coffea canephora", "authors": "Moraes, M. S.; Teixeira, A. L.; Ramalho, A. R.; Espíndula, M. C.; Ferrão, M. A. G.; Rocha, R. B.", "year": 2018, "publisher": "Genetics and Molecular Research 17(1), gmr16039876", "url": "https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1101580/1/characterization-of-gametophytic-selfincompatibility-of-superior-clones-of-coffea-canephora.pdf", "doi": "10.4238/gmr16039876", "tier": "A", "quote": "C. canephora exhibits gametophytic self-incompatibility", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s8", "title": "From anthesis to harvest: evolution of the fructification of Conilon coffee genotypes grown at a transitional altitude", "authors": "Colodetti, T. V.; Tomaz, M. A.; Sartori, L.; de Salles, R. A.; de Souza, I. V.; Senra, J. F. de B.; Rodrigues, W. N.", "year": 2025, "publisher": "Bragantia 84, e20250028", "url": "https://biblioteca.incaper.es.gov.br/digital/bitstream/item/5042/1/coniloncoffee.pdf", "doi": "10.1590/1678-4499.20250028", "tier": "A", "quote": "Most commercial Conilon coffee crops are formed by clonal cultivars with a certain number of genotypes.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s9", "title": "Not so robust: robusta coffee production is highly sensitive to temperature", "authors": "Kath, J.; Byrareddy, V. M.; Craparo, A.; Nguyen-Huy, T.; Mushtaq, S.; Cao, L.; Bossolasco, L.", "year": 2020, "publisher": "Global Change Biology 26(6), 3677–3688", "url": "https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q5v20/not-so-robust-robusta-coffee-production-is-highly-sensitive-to-temperature", "doi": "10.1111/gcb.15097", "tier": "A", "quote": "We demonstrate that robusta has an optimal temperature below 20.5°C (or a mean minimum/maximum of ≤16.2/24.1°C), which is markedly lower, by 1.5–9°C than current estimates.", "abstractOnly": true, "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s10", "title": "Impacts of drought and temperature stress on coffee physiology and production: a review", "authors": "DaMatta, F. M.; Ramalho, J. D. C.", "year": 2006, "publisher": "Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 18(1), 55–81", "url": "https://www.scielo.br/j/bjpp/a/bDfpJwLr4xLcznSwy4b9zkf/?lang=en", "doi": "10.1590/S1677-04202006000100006", "tier": "A", "quote": "For robusta coffee, the optimum annual mean temperature ranges from 22 to 26ºC (Matiello, 1998), or, according to Willson (1999), from 24 to 30ºC.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s11", "title": "Influence of Various Factors on Caffeine Content in Coffee Brews", "authors": "Olechno, E.; Puścion-Jakubik, A.; Zujko, M. E.; Socha, K.", "year": 2021, "publisher": "Foods 10(6), 1208", "url": "https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/foods/foods-10-01208/article_deploy/foods-10-01208.pdf", "doi": "10.3390/foods10061208", "tier": "A", "quote": "Arabica green beans contain, on average, 0.9 to 1.5% dry weight of caffeine.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s12", "title": "Caffeine, trigonelline, chlorogenic acids and sucrose diversity in wild Coffea arabica L. and C. canephora P. accessions", "authors": "Ky, C.-L.; Louarn, J.; Dussert, S.; Guyot, B.; Hamon, S.; Noirot, M.", "year": 2001, "publisher": "Food Chemistry 75(2), 223–230", "url": "https://agritrop.cirad.fr/526749", "tier": "A", "quote": "Between-species-average-content comparison confirms that C. arabica showed more trigonelline and sucrose and that C. canephora presented more CGA and caffeine.", "abstractOnly": true, "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s13", "title": "The lipid fraction of the coffee bean", "authors": "Speer, K.; Kölling-Speer, I.", "year": 2006, "publisher": "Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 18(1), 201–216", "url": "https://www.scielo.br/j/bjpp/a/sLcktB9RbKvXRPMmy4kjtfC/?lang=en", "doi": "10.1590/S1677-04202006000100014", "tier": "A", "quote": "The lipid content of green Arabica coffee beans averages some 15 %", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s14", "title": "The Chemistry of Roasting – Decoding Flavor Formation", "authors": "Poisson, L.; Blank, I.; Dunkel, A.; Hofmann, T.", "year": 2017, "publisher": "In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 12, pp. 273–309", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00012-8", "doi": "10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00012-8", "tier": "B", "quote": "On the other hand, Robusta coffees contain more caffeine, proteins, arabinogalactans, CGA (except 3-FQA), total phosphate, ash (i.e., Ca-salts), and transition metals (i.e., Fe, Al, Cu).", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s15", "title": "A Meta-Analysis of Acids in Coffee and a Quantification of Coffee Beverage Color", "authors": "Yeager, S. E.", "year": 2021, "publisher": "University of California, Davis (MSc thesis; chapter 2 is the meta-analysis later published by Yeager, Batali, Guinard and Ristenpart in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition)", "url": "https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/0w62z1n1", "tier": "B", "tierNote": "Master's thesis (B). Replaces an SCA News interview with the author (news item), which may not stand alone; same source as in Arabica and robusta compared.", "quote": "The coffee roast level affects CGA concentrations more than the type of coffee, except for total FQA and total diCQA.", "accessed": "2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s16", "title": "Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026)", "authors": "USDA Foreign Agricultural Service", "year": 2026, "publisher": "United States Department of Agriculture", "url": "https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/coffee.pdf", "tier": "A", "quote": "World coffee production for 2026/27 is forecast 10.8 million bags higher than the previous year to a record 189.7 million due to record output in Brazil, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Vietnam.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s17", "title": "Robusta Coffee Futures: contract specifications", "authors": "ICE Futures Europe", "year": 2026, "publisher": "Intercontinental Exchange", "url": "https://www.ice.com/api/productguide/spec/37089079/pdf", "tier": "A", "quote": "Robusta Coffee from any Origin that is freely available for export to any destination", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s18", "title": "Coffee “C”® Futures: contract specifications", "authors": "ICE Futures U.S.", "year": 2026, "publisher": "Intercontinental Exchange", "url": "https://www.ice.com/api/productguide/spec/15/pdf", "tier": "A", "quote": "37,500 pounds", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s19", "title": "Cupping and Grading – Discovering Character and Quality", "authors": "Lingle, T. R.; Menon, S. N.", "year": 2017, "publisher": "In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 8, pp. 181–203", "url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128035207/the-craft-and-science-of-coffee", "doi": "10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00008-6", "tier": "B", "quote": "This comes from the fact that robusta coffees, like most plants, require cross-pollination to reproduce, whereas arabica coffees are self-pollinating.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s20", "title": "Uganda", "authors": "Coffee Quality Institute", "year": 2026, "publisher": "Coffee Quality Institute, Global impact", "url": "https://coffeeinstitute.org/global-impact/uganda", "tier": "B", "quote": "In 2014, UCDA and CQI published the industry's first comprehensive guide of standards and procedures that define Fine Robusta coffee, similar to those of specialty Arabica.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s21", "title": "Cambios físicos y químicos durante la maduración del fruto de café (Coffea arabica L. var. Colombia)", "authors": "Marín-López, S. M.; Arcila-Pulgarín, J.; Montoya-Restrepo, E. C.; Oliveros-Tascón, C. E.", "year": 2003, "publisher": "Cenicafé 54(3), 208–225", "url": "https://biblioteca.cenicafe.org/bitstream/10778/265/1/arc054(03)208-225.pdf", "tier": "A", "quote": "La calidad en taza mejor calificada se obtuvo de frutos pintones, maduros y sobremaduros (210 a 224 días después de floración), mientras que con frutos verdes (182 a 203 días) y frutos secos (231 días) fue de baja calificación.", "accessed": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z" } ], "markdown": "## One species, several names\n\n*Coffea canephora* is one of the two species that give almost all the world’s coffee. Its seeds are traded as robusta. Kew’s Plants of the World Online (POWO) lists it as a tree of the wet tropics.1\n\n“Robusta” is not a variety in the botanical sense. A plant once described as its own species, *Coffea robusta*, is now listed as a synonym of *C. canephora*. So is the rank “subvariety *robusta*”.1 The species was first divided into a Kouillou and a Robusta type; the Brazilian conilon comes from a single selection of the Kouillou type.5 In trade, “robusta” stands for the whole species. The ICE robusta futures contract, for example, accepts robusta from any origin.17\n\n## Where it grows wild\n\nThe species is native from West tropical Africa to South Sudan and northern Angola. POWO lists 18 countries and areas, from Guinea and Ivory Coast to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania.1 A 2006 review places its home in the lowland forests of the Congo River basin, reaching Lake Victoria in Uganda. There it grew as a midstorey tree in dense equatorial rainforest.10\n\nThe wild populations fall into two main genetic groups. The Guinean group comes from Guinea and Ivory Coast; the Congolese group comes mainly from Central Africa.3,5 A 2013 study links this pattern to climatic refuges during the last ice age.4 The coffee species index shows *C. canephora* among all the accepted species, with its native countries.\n\n
\n\n## A plant that needs a partner\n\nMost arabica flowers pollinate themselves. *C. canephora* cannot: it is self-incompatible, meaning a flower rejects pollen from its own plant.19,7 It is an outcrossing species, so its seedlings vary from tree to tree.2,3\n\nThis shapes how farms are planted. A clone is a group of plants grown from cuttings of one tree, so all are genetically identical. Planting clones that cannot pollinate each other can cost yield.7 Farms therefore plant several clones that can pollinate one another, or seed from controlled crosses between selected parents.7,5\n\n## Conilon in Brazil\n\nBrazil grows *C. canephora* mainly as conilon. Significant production began in the 1960s, especially in Espírito Santo state.8 Most commercial conilon fields are planted with clonal cultivars, each made of several genotypes.8 Several of these cultivars came from mass selection, the choice of the best trees within a population.5 As of the USDA’s July 2026 forecast, Brazil is the second-largest robusta producer after Vietnam.16\n\n## Climate: less robust than its name\n\nRobusta has long been seen as a warm-lowland coffee. A 2006 review gives an optimum annual mean temperature of 22–26 °C.10 A 2020 study of yields on 798 farms in South-East Asia found the optimum below 20.5 °C instead.9 Above its thresholds, each 1 °C rise in growing-season temperature went with yields about 14% lower.9 Arabica tolerates cold better than *C. canephora*.10,6\n\n
\n
\n
Published optimum temperatures for arabica and robusta: ranges from a 2006 review and the thresholds from a 2020 yield study.10,9
\n
\n\n## How it differs from arabica in the cup\n\nGreen robusta holds more caffeine than green arabica.12,14 A 2021 review gives 0.9–1.5% of dry weight for arabica and 1.2–2.4% for robusta (basis not stated).11 Arabica holds more sucrose and trigonelline, two flavour precursors in roasting.12,14 Green arabica averages about 15% lipids (oils and waxes), robusta around 10%.13\n\n\n\n## Genome and origin of arabica\n\n*C. canephora* is diploid, with 2n = 2x = 22 chromosomes, and highly heterozygous. A 2014 study sequenced its genome of about 710 Mb.2 *C. arabica* (2n = 4x = 44) arose from a hybridisation between *C. canephora* and *C. eugenioides*, which makes *C. canephora* one of arabica’s two parent species.2 How old that hybridisation is is treated in [The coffee genus](/entries/coffea-genus/).\n\n## Genetic groups\n\nMicrosatellite studies divide the species into a Guinean and a Congolese group.3,4 A 2013 analysis of 293 trees from 17 populations found six subgroups, two Guinean and four Congolese, and linked the structure to refuge zones during the Last Glacial Maximum.4 The Guinean group, separated geographically by the Dahomey Gap, corresponds to diversity group D; groups A, B, C and E occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.3\n\nAccording to a 2017 textbook chapter, the subgroups are labelled D (Guinean), A or SG1 (conilon), B or SG2 (Central African Republic), E (Congolese), C (Cameroon), O (Uganda) and R (Democratic Republic of the Congo).5 The same chapter describes the Kouillou type as a small group of low diversity, from which a single selection gave conilon.5 Group letters differ slightly between studies; the A–E labels above are the ones both sources share.\n\n## Self-incompatibility and planting design\n\nThe incompatibility in *C. canephora* is gametophytic: pollen is rejected when it shares an S-allele with the receiving plant.7 A 2018 study in Rondônia, Brazil, made 80 controlled crosses in a balanced diallel and assigned 12 superior genotypes to three compatibility groups. It notes that planting incompatible clones together can compromise yield, and that knowing each clone’s group allows clones to be arranged in the field accordingly.7 The authors caution that their results should not be used to justify planting only a few clones.7\n\nBreeding follows from the same trait. Programmes select clones for vegetative propagation, or clonal hybrids propagated by seed from controlled pollination.5 The chapter describes mass selection, applied mainly in Brazil and Vietnam, and hybridisation between distant genetic groups, extended in Ivory Coast to reciprocal recurrent selection.5 Rooted cuttings are used mostly for robusta clones, and grafting and in vitro somatic embryos also propagate them.6 Arabica in turn is often grafted onto *C. canephora* rootstock to control nematodes, and grafted plants have shown better drought resistance.6\n\n## Plant habit and fruit cycle\n\nPOWO classes *C. canephora* as a tree.1 Arabica, by contrast, evolved as a shrub of the forest undergrowth in south-western Ethiopia and northern Kenya.5 In a 2025 Brazilian trial, each conilon plant was grown with three upright (orthotropic) stems.8\n\nThe time from flowering to harvest varies with clone and site. The same 2025 trial at a transitional altitude recorded 252–308 days from anthesis to harvest across conilon genotypes. It cites earlier studies giving 216–238 days for early-maturing genotypes at low altitude.8 For comparison, a Cenicafé study on arabica var. Colombia found the best cups from fruit picked 210–224 days after flowering.21 The two studies measured different things at different sites, so they do not establish a fixed gap between the species.\n\n## Climate in detail\n\nThe 2006 review gives 18–21 °C as the optimum mean annual temperature for arabica, and for robusta 22–26 °C, or 24–30 °C after another author.10 The review compiles these estimates from earlier authors.10 The 2020 study instead modelled ten years of yield records from 798 farms in South-East Asia with hierarchical Bayesian methods.9 It found an optimum below 20.5 °C, or mean minimum and maximum temperatures of ≤16.2 °C and ≤24.1 °C. Above those values, every 1 °C rise in mean minimum or maximum temperature during the growing season corresponded to yield losses of about 14%, or 350–460 kg/ha.9\n\nA 2017 textbook chapter describes climatic clusters for robusta growing (wet, hot-dry, dry and cool-wet) and states that fine robustas come mainly from the cool-wet cluster, with examples from mountainous regions of Uganda.6 Climatic limits, frost and site choice for both species are treated in Site selection and climate.\n\n## Comparison with arabica\n\n| Trait | *C. arabica* | *C. canephora* |\n|---|---|---|\n| Habit | Shrub of the forest undergrowth5 | Tree; midstorey tree of lowland rainforest1,10 |\n| Chromosomes | 2n = 4x = 44 (hybrid of *C. canephora* × *C. eugenioides*)2 | 2n = 2x = 222 |\n| Breeding system | Self-pollinating19 | Self-incompatible (gametophytic), outcrossing7,2 |\n| Usual propagation | Seed (see Arabica varieties) | Clones planted together, or seed from controlled crosses5,8 |\n| Flowering to harvest | Best cups from fruit picked 210–224 days after flowering (var. Colombia)21 | 252–308 days (conilon, transitional altitude); 216–238 days cited for early genotypes at low altitude8 |\n| Caffeine, green coffee | 0.9–1.5% dry weight11 | 1.2–2.4% (basis not stated)11 |\n| Lipids, green coffee | ≈15%13 | ≈10%13 |\n| Sucrose and trigonelline | Higher12,14 | Lower12,14 |\n| Chlorogenic acids | Lower in two sources; very similar profiles in a meta-analysis (see Contested)12,15 | Higher in two sources12,14 |\n| Optimum temperature | 18–21 °C mean annual10 | 22–26 °C mean annual (2006 review); below 20.5 °C (2020 yield study)10,9 |\n| Share of world production, 2026/27 forecast | ≈56% (105.9 of 189.7 million bags)16 | ≈44% (83.8 of 189.7 million bags)16 |\n| Benchmark futures contract | ICE Coffee “C”, 37,500 lb (≈17 t) lots18 | ICE Robusta, 10 t lots, US dollars per tonne17 |\n\nShares are our calculation from the USDA’s production table.16 Composition values refer to green coffee on a dry-weight basis where the source states one; the lipid averages carry no stated basis in the source.13\n\n## Production by country\n\nAs of its July 2026 report, the USDA forecasts world coffee production for 2026/27 at a record 189.7 million 60-kg bags, of which 83.8 million are robusta.16 For 2025/26 it estimates 84.4 million bags of robusta out of 178.8 million, about 47% by our calculation.16 Vietnam leads with a forecast 31.4 million bags of robusta, followed by Brazil (24.4 million), Indonesia (10.0 million), Uganda (6.0 million) and India (4.6 million).16 These are forecasts and estimates by marketing year, not final harvests.\n\n
\n
\n
Robusta production forecast for 2026/27 by country, in million 60-kg bags, from the USDA’s July 2026 report.16
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\n\n## Fine robusta and specialty robusta\n\nRobusta has long been sold mainly as a commercial grade. In a series of workshops in Uganda, coffee professionals cupped robusta from several origins side by side. The outcome was a robusta cupping form, a cupping protocol and a green robusta grading handbook.19 The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) drew up a classification system for fine robusta, and the name “fine robusta” was chosen to set these coffees apart from “specialty arabica”.19,20 According to the CQI, these standards and procedures are similar to those for specialty arabica.20\n\nThe robusta cupping form records attributes that include a bitter/sweet and a salt/acid aspect ratio.19 According to the same chapter, robusta coffees show greater differences in cup quality than arabica coffees, which the authors attribute to cross-pollination.19 Grading rules and cupping scores are covered in Green coffee grading and Cupping.\n\n## Open questions\n\n- How far the 2020 temperature optimum, measured on South-East Asian farms, holds for conilon in Brazil and for robusta in Africa is not established in the sources opened for this entry.9\n- Whether *C. canephora* contains more chlorogenic acids than arabica in a consistent way remains disputed (see Contested).12,15\n- No source opened for this entry gives a sourced, species-wide flowering-to-harvest period for both species under the same conditions.\n\n## Key studies\n\n
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Kath et al., 2020 – Not so robust. Modelled ten years of yield records from 798 robusta farms in South-East Asia against temperature. Found an optimum below 20.5 °C, 1.5–9 °C below earlier estimates, and yields about 14% lower per 1 °C rise in growing-season mean minimum or maximum temperature above 16.2/24.1 °C.

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Global Change Biology 26(6), 3677–3688 · doi:10.1111/gcb.15097

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Denoeud et al., 2014 – The robusta genome. Sequenced and assembled the genome of *C. canephora*. Compared its caffeine genes with those of other plants and concluded that caffeine biosynthesis in coffee evolved convergently.

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Science 345(6201), 1181–1184 · doi:10.1126/science.1255274

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Cubry et al., 2013 – Diversity across the Guineo-Congolese region. Genotyped 293 wild and cultivated trees from 17 populations with 39 microsatellite markers. Found a Guinean and a Congolese group with six subgroups, shaped by ice-age forest refuges and later migration.

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Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 60(2), 483–501 · agritrop.cirad.fr/567363

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Moraes et al., 2018 – Compatibility groups of superior clones. Made controlled crosses between elite genotypes in Rondônia, Brazil, and sorted 12 of them into three compatibility groups. Notes that planting incompatible clones can compromise yield and that known groups let growers arrange clones in the field.

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Genetics and Molecular Research 17(1), gmr16039876 · doi:10.4238/gmr16039876

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