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Botany · Fruit and seed

Fruit development

How a fertilised coffee flower becomes a ripe cherry – the growth phases, how long each species takes, why the fruit turns red or yellow, and when the size of the bean is decided.

Across the chain: Science

Source-checkedby Coffearium verification pass· Last source-checked 22 Oct 2026· Prepared with AI assistance· 11 sources (9 tier A)· 4 contested· Updated 22 Oct 2026
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Contents
  • Arabica fruit grows in phases: a pinhead stage, rapid expansion, endosperm filling and ripening, which falls about 24–34 weeks after flowering.2,3
  • Flowering to ripe fruit takes 6–8 months in *C. arabica* and 9–11 months in *C. canephora*, according to a 2006 review; other studies report longer spans.1,2,3
  • The seed first fills with perisperm, a maternal tissue; the endosperm, the future bean, then grows into its place.1,4
  • Water during rapid expansion sets the size of the space the bean can fill; shortage then gives smaller beans.2,3
  • Ripe fruit turns red as chlorophyll breaks down and anthocyanins accumulate; some cultivars stay yellow.1,3

From flower to cherry#

A coffee cherry starts as a fertilised flower and ends as a ripe fruit holding two seeds. How the flower opens and is pollinated is covered in Flowering and pollination. This entry follows what happens next, inside the fruit.

Growth is not steady. In arabica coffee, a 2007 review describes five stages: a pinhead stage, rapid swelling, a short pause, endosperm filling and ripening.2 A 2025 review uses the same stages with limits in days after flowering.3 Each stage builds a different part of the fruit, so a problem at one stage leaves a different mark on the harvest.

The layers of the finished fruit, from skin to seed, are described in Coffee cherry anatomy. Here they matter only as they form.

The five phases#

Pinhead. For the first 6–10 weeks after flowering the young fruit hardly grows.2 It looks like a small pinhead and reaches about 10% of its final size.3

Rapid expansion. Then the fruit swells fast, for about 10 weeks, roughly from week 6 to week 17.2 The fruit gains size and fresh mass fast in this phase.2 Inside each seed, the space is first filled by the perisperm, a tissue that comes from the mother plant.1

Slow growth. A pause of about two weeks follows, during which the fruit reaches its final size.2

Endosperm filling. From about week 17 to week 28, dry matter rises steadily.2 The endosperm, the tissue that becomes the green coffee bean, grows into the space the perisperm leaves behind.1 It starts as a liquid and hardens as it fills.1 The phase ends at physiological maturity: the fruit is olive green and the endosperm is solid.3

Ripening. Ripening spreads over about 10 weeks, from week 24 to week 34 after flowering.2 The outer fruit grows again in size and mass, and turns red or yellow.2

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  1. Pinhead: the first 6–10 weeks; the fruit is about 10% of its final size and the seed space holds perisperm.2,3
  2. Rapid expansion: about weeks 6–17; the fruit swells to full size. In IAPAR 59 the endosperm became visible at 75 days.2,4
  3. Endosperm filling: about weeks 17–28; the endosperm grows into the space of the perisperm.1,2
  4. Physiological maturity: the fruit is olive green, the endosperm solid; only a thin layer of perisperm, the future silverskin, is left.1,3
  5. Ripe: about weeks 24–34; the skin turns red, or stays yellow in some cultivars.2,3
An arabica fruit cut lengthwise at five stages. Hatching marks the perisperm, the shaded tissue the endosperm. Weeks after flowering after a 2007 review; the stages overlap in the sources. Schematic, not to scale.

What sets the size of the bean#

The size of the bean is decided early, before the bean itself has formed. During rapid expansion the seed coat tissues swell and set the size of the cavity, or locule. According to a 2007 review, this expansion sets the maximum size of the bean.2 The endosperm later fills that space.1,2

Water is the main limit. Water shortage during rapid expansion often reduces the growth of the fruit.2 Fruits that expand in wet weather become larger, with larger locules, than fruits that expand in hot, dry weather.2 A 2025 review links a deficit in this phase to more small beans.3

Slow ripening also goes with larger beans. Longer maturation times and larger beans are usually observed at high altitude and under shade, according to a 2006 review.1 A coffee science textbook chapter explains it the same way: slower ripening allows better bean filling.10 How growers use altitude and shade is covered in Site selection and climate and Shade and agroforestry. Bean size as a grade is covered in Bean size and density.

Green to red#

The skin of the fruit stays green for most of its development.1 At the end it turns briefly yellow and then red.1 Two things happen at once: the green chlorophyll breaks down, and red pigments called anthocyanins build up.1,3 Colour is the main sign that a fruit is ripe.1

Some cultivars never turn red. In natural yellow-fruited mutants of arabica the skin stays yellow when ripe.1,3 Why is not settled (see Contested). In C. liberica, ripe fruits are red, red-streaked yellow or occasionally fully yellow, according to a plant-resources handbook.11 How pickers use the colour stages is covered in Harvesting and sorting.

How long each species takes#

The species differ widely. A 2006 review gives 6–8 months from flowering to ripe fruit for C. arabica and 9–11 months for C. canephora.1 The same review gives more than a year for C. liberica, and only 10–12 weeks for C. racemosa, a wild species.1

Other studies report longer spans for the two crop species. A 2025 review gives 220–243 days on average for arabica, and 180–330 days overall.3 Conilon clones of C. canephora took 36–55 weeks, depending on the clone.2 Warm weather shortens the cycle: above 23 °C, arabica fruits develop and ripen faster, often with a loss of quality.9

02468101214monthsC. arabica · review6–8 months1 C. arabica · 2025 review,average220–243 days3 C. arabica · 2025 review,span180–330 days3 C. arabica · IAPAR 59,field study8–9 months4 C. canephora · review9–11 months1 C. canephora · conilonclones36–55 weeks2 C. liberica · reviewmore than a year1 C. racemosa · review10–12 weeks1 C. racemosa · 2008 study60–110 days5
Data table
monthsSource
C. arabica · review6–8 months1
C. arabica · 2025 review, average220–243 days3
C. arabica · 2025 review, span180–330 days3
C. arabica · IAPAR 59, field study8–9 months4
C. canephora · review9–11 months1
C. canephora · conilon clones36–55 weeks2
C. liberica · reviewmore than a year1
C. racemosa · review10–12 weeks1
C. racemosa · 2008 study60–110 days5
Time from flowering to ripe fruit by species, as each source reports it, converted to months (our calculation, 1 month = 30.44 days). Liberica is marked at 12 months: the source says only “more than a year”.1,2,3,4,5

Perisperm and endosperm#

The coffee seed is built twice. The perisperm develops from the nucellus of the ovule soon after fertilisation; until mid-development the fruit consists mainly of pericarp and perisperm.1 The endosperm is a triploid tissue that develops inside it.1 In C. arabica cv. IAPAR 59, a rapid expansion of the perisperm occurred between 60 and 90 days after flowering (DAF); the endosperm began to develop between 60 and 75 DAF and became detectable at 75 DAF.4 At 118 DAF the two tissues were present in equal proportions.4 By maturity, at 205–234 DAF, the endosperm filled the whole locule.4

The perisperm is consumed as the endosperm grows. Its inner part gives way, and in the Acaiá Cerrado measurements cited in the 2006 review the endosperm occupied the whole space by about week 19.1 Only the outer layer remains. At maturity it is a pellicle about 70 µm thick: the silverskin.1 The perisperm also stores starch for a while, which is degraded as the seed develops.4 In the endosperm, sucrose accumulated to close to 6% of dry weight.4 How the finished seed is built, and how long it stays alive, is covered in Seed anatomy and storage.

C. racemosa runs the same programme at high speed. In a field study its perisperm disappeared between 12 and 40 DAF, replaced by the endosperm, and the fruits completed their development in 68 DAF.5 The authors give 60–110 days for the species, against 180–250 days for C. arabica.5

Water first, dry matter later#

The fruit takes up water before it stores dry matter. The 2011 field study below sampled 300 fruits of arabica cv. Obatã IAC 1669-20 every two weeks at Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil.6 The authors describe slow growth from 96 to 126 DAF, rapid growth from 127 to 158 DAF and slower, linear growth from 159 to 279 DAF.6 Fresh mass grew fastest in the rapid phase, dry mass in the linear phase.6

90120150180210240270300020406080100Days after flowering% of highest valueDry mass6 Fresh mass6
Data table
SeriesDays after flowering% of highest valueSource
Fresh mass9616
Fresh mass11126
Fresh mass12636
Fresh mass141156
Fresh mass158466
Fresh mass174576
Fresh mass189616
Fresh mass204666
Fresh mass219746
Fresh mass235816
Fresh mass250856
Fresh mass265936
Fresh mass2791006
Fresh mass293916
Dry mass9616
Dry mass11126
Dry mass12626
Dry mass14176
Dry mass158256
Dry mass174306
Dry mass189366
Dry mass204366
Dry mass219466
Dry mass235536
Dry mass250676
Dry mass265896
Dry mass2791006
Dry mass293986
Fresh and dry mass of arabica fruits (cv. Obatã IAC 1669-20, Jaboticabal, Brazil, 2007/08) as a share of their highest value. Mean of six sampling positions, our calculation from Tables 2 and 3 of the source; lines only join the measured points.6

By our calculation from the same tables, fresh mass had reached 57% of its peak at 174 DAF, dry mass only 30%. Dry matter rose from about 17% of fresh mass during rapid growth to 31% at 279 DAF.6 The pattern matches the stage model: volume and water first, dry matter during endosperm filling.2 The timing does not. Rapid growth started about 10 weeks later than in the 2025 review, and the authors relate the slow start partly to an 83 mm water deficit in October.6 No study opened for this entry gives a full growth curve for C. canephora or C. liberica.

Bean size and water stress#

A 2007 review states that the expansion of the integument sets the maximum size of the bean.2 Under limiting water the ovules do not reach their potential full size.2 In a study at Ruiru, Kenya, cited in the review, potential bean size was strongly determined by rainfall 10–17 weeks after blossoming.2 The 2025 review adds that water scarcity during rapid growth can reduce the fresh mass and volume of the fruits.3

Later stress does different damage. The 2025 review cites a study in which a deficit in the second part of rapid growth (about 91–119 DAF) caused black beans in 11.41% of ripe fruits.3 A continuous deficit (under 10 mm) from 57 to 80 DAF caused fruits to dry and drop, with losses of 10–40% after 80 DAF.3 These are single field results reported in a review, not general thresholds. Seeds that develop alone in a fruit, and bean shape, are covered in Peaberries and bean shapes.

Pigments of ripening#

The colour change has been measured in C. arabica var. Colombia at 1,400 m in Chinchiná, Colombia.7 Total chlorophyll in the outer fruit tissues was 7.96–16.74 µg/g fresh weight from 182 to 203 DAF; from 210 DAF on, no chlorophyll values were reported.7 Anthocyanins rose from 1.52 µg/g at the semi-ripe stage (210 DAF) to 8.26 µg/g when ripe (217 DAF) and 47.15 µg/g when overripe (224 DAF).7 The 2006 review cites the same study with the values per gram of dry weight.1 Fruit diameter in that study grew until 217 DAF.7

A 2024 study of Catimor peel found cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside as the main anthocyanins.8 Carotenoids, above all lutein, coloured the peel in the green and green-yellow stages; anthocyanins dominated once it turned red.8 For yellow-fruited cultivars the sources differ: the 2025 review names leucoanthocyanin in place of anthocyanin, the 2024 study carotenoids (see Contested).3,8

Reference values#

Parameter Value Material and conditions Source
Pinhead stage First 6–10 weeks after flowering Arabica, review after Cannell (1985) DaMatta et al.2
Pinhead stage Up to ≈56 DAF; ≈10% of final size Arabica, review Unigarro et al.3
Rapid expansion ≈10 weeks, week 6 to week 17 Arabica, review DaMatta et al.2
Rapid expansion 57–126 DAF Arabica, review Unigarro et al.3
Slow growth ≈2 weeks; final size reached Arabica, review DaMatta et al.2
Slow growth 126–140 DAF Arabica, review Unigarro et al.3
Endosperm filling Week 17 to week 28 Arabica, review DaMatta et al.2
Endosperm filling 126–196 DAF Arabica, review Unigarro et al.3
Ripening Week 24 to week 34 Arabica, review DaMatta et al.2
Ripening 196–224 DAF Arabica, review Unigarro et al.3
Endosperm first detectable 75 DAF Arabica cv. IAPAR 59 Geromel et al. 20064
Perisperm and endosperm equal 118 DAF Arabica cv. IAPAR 59 Geromel et al. 20064
Silverskin at maturity ≈70 µm thick Arabica, review De Castro & Marraccini1
Thermal time to physiological maturity 1,579–2,634 degree days (123–217 DAF), base 10.5 °C Arabica cultivars, review Unigarro et al.3
Flower to ripe fruit 6–8 months C. arabica, review after Cannell (1985) De Castro & Marraccini1
Flower to ripe fruit 220–243 DAF on average; 180–330 DAF overall C. arabica Unigarro et al.3
Flower to ripe fruit Eight to nine months C. arabica cv. IAPAR 59, field-grown Geromel et al. 20064
Flower to ripe fruit 9–11 months C. canephora, review De Castro & Marraccini1
Flower to ripe fruit 36–55 weeks C. canephora conilon clones DaMatta et al.2
Flower to ripe fruit More than a year C. liberica De Castro & Marraccini1
Flower to ripe fruit 10–12 weeks; 60–110 days; 68 DAF in one field study C. racemosa De Castro & Marraccini1, Geromel et al. 20085
Anthocyanins in skin and pulp 1.52 → 8.26 → 47.15 µg/g fresh weight at 210, 217, 224 DAF C. arabica var. Colombia, 1,400 m Marín-López et al.7
Temperature that speeds ripening Above 23 °C C. arabica, review DaMatta & Ramalho9

DAF = days after flowering. Weeks and days as each source gives them; the stages overlap because the sources draw their limits differently.

Open questions#

  • Stage timing in other regions. The stage limits in the two reviews draw on earlier field studies they cite; the one Brazilian growth curve opened here ran about 10 weeks later.2,3,6
  • Fruit development in canephora and liberica. The sources opened give total durations for these species but no stage-by-stage account.1,2
  • Yellow fruit colour. Whether yellow-fruited arabica lacks anthocyanins because of leucoanthocyanin or because carotenoids dominate is not settled in the sources opened.3,8
  • Maternal control of bean traits. The 2006 review suggests that the maternal genome, through the perisperm, could be in part responsible for physical traits of the bean, though it notes that no such maternal effect had been observed in arabica or robusta breeding programmes.1

Key studies#

De Castro & Marraccini, 2006 – Cytology of coffee fruit development. A review of how the coffee fruit and seed form, from the perisperm that fills the young seed to the endosperm that replaces it and hardens. It also gathers data on colour change, storage compounds and gene expression, and compares development times across species.

Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 18(1), 175–199 · doi:10.1590/S1677-04202006000100013

DaMatta et al., 2007 – Ecophysiology of coffee growth and production. A review of how the coffee plant grows and yields under different climates. Its section on fruit growth sets out the five stages with weeks after flowering and explains why water during rapid expansion decides bean size.

Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 19(4), 485–510 · doi:10.1590/S1677-04202007000400014

Geromel et al., 2006 – Sucrose metabolism in the developing arabica fruit. Followed field-grown IAPAR 59 fruits from pinhead to maturity, separating pericarp, perisperm and endosperm. Dates when the endosperm appears and overtakes the perisperm, and tracks starch, sugars and the enzymes behind sucrose storage.

Journal of Experimental Botany 57(12), 3243–3258 · doi:10.1093/jxb/erl084

Geromel et al., 2008 – Fruit development in C. racemosa. Studied a wild species whose fruit matures in about two months. The perisperm is replaced within the first 40 days, which makes the species a contrast to arabica for studying seed filling.

Annals of Applied Biology 152(2), 179–187 · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2007.00199.x

Marín-López et al., 2003 – Ripening of var. Colombia. Measured size, weight, pigments and cup quality of fruit picked at eight stages from 182 to 231 days after flowering. Chlorophyll fell and anthocyanins rose sharply in the last two weeks; the best cups came from semi-ripe to overripe fruit.

Cenicafé 54(3), 208–225 · PDF

Contested
  • Start of rapid growth in arabica: a 2007 review, after Cannell (1985), places it from about week 6 to week 17 after flowering2, and a 2025 review from 57 to 126 days3; a 2006 review cites measurements on Bourbon with rapid growth from flowering to week 7 and full size at week 171; in a 2011 Brazilian field study the fastest gain in fresh mass came only at 127–158 days, after a dry October.6
  • Flower to ripe fruit in arabica: 6–8 months in a 2006 review after Cannell (1985)1; 180–250 days in a 2008 paper5; 220–243 days on average and 180–330 days overall in a 2025 review3; eight to nine months for field-grown IAPAR 59.4
  • Origin of the perisperm: a 2006 review states that it develops from the nucellus of the ovule1; a 2007 review, after Cannell (1985), speaks of the expansion of the integument.2
  • Why yellow-fruited arabica stays yellow: a 2025 review attributes it to leucoanthocyanin in place of anthocyanin3; a 2024 peel study, citing earlier work, attributes the colour of yellow-skinned varieties to carotenoids.8
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Change log

  • – The 2025 review's flowering-to-harvest average (220–243 days) and stage limits are no longer attributed to Colombia (quick facts, body, table, chart labels, open questions). Reason: The review gives these values for arabica in general, citing several studies; it names Colombia only for other data.
  • – Perisperm sentence corrected: until mid-development the fruit consists mainly of pericarp and perisperm, not of perisperm alone. Reason: Wording of De Castro & Marraccini (2006).

Sources

  1. ADe Castro, R. D.; Marraccini, P. (2006). Cytology, biochemistry and molecular changes during coffee fruit development. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 18(1), 175–199. doi:10.1590/S1677-04202006000100013 · other copies
  2. ADaMatta, F. M.; Ronchi, C. P.; Maestri, M.; Barros, R. S. (2007). Ecophysiology of coffee growth and production. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 19(4), 485–510. doi:10.1590/S1677-04202007000400014 · other copies
  3. AUnigarro, C. A.; Cayón Salinas, D. G.; León-Burgos, A. F.; Flórez-Ramos, C. P. (2025). Flowering and Fruiting of Coffea arabica L.: A Comprehensive Perspective from Phenology. Plants 14(21), 3396. doi:10.3390/plants14213396 · other copies
  4. AGeromel, C.; Ferreira, L. P.; Guerreiro, S. M. C.; Cavalari, A. A.; Pot, D.; Pereira, L. F. P.; Leroy, T.; Vieira, L. G. E.; Mazzafera, P.; Marraccini, P. (2006). Biochemical and genomic analysis of sucrose metabolism during coffee (Coffea arabica) fruit development. Journal of Experimental Botany 57(12), 3243–3258. doi:10.1093/jxb/erl084 · other copies
  5. AGeromel, C.; Ferreira, L. P.; Bottcher, A.; Pot, D.; Pereira, L. F. P.; Leroy, T.; Vieira, L. G. E.; Mazzafera, P.; Marraccini, P. (2008). Sucrose metabolism during fruit development in Coffea racemosa. Annals of Applied Biology 152(2), 179–187. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2007.00199.x · other copies
  6. ACunha, A. R. da; Volpe, C. A. (2011). Curvas de crescimento do fruto de cafeeiro cv. Obatã IAC 1669-20 em diferentes alinhamentos de plantio [Growth curves of coffee fruits Obatã IAC 1669-20 in different alignments of planting]. Semina: Ciências Agrárias 32(1), 49–62.
  7. AMarín-López, S. M.; Arcila-Pulgarín, J.; Montoya-Restrepo, E. C.; Oliveros-Tascón, C. E. (2003). Cambios físicos y químicos durante la maduración del fruto de café (Coffea arabica L. var. Colombia). Cenicafé 54(3), 208–225.
  8. AWang, Z.; Xie, C.; Wu, Y.; Liu, H.; Zhang, X.; Du, H.; Li, X.; Zhang, C. (2024). Integrated Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Analyses Reveal the Regulatory Mechanisms of Anthocyanin and Carotenoid Accumulation in the Peel of Coffea arabica. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25(19), 10754. doi:10.3390/ijms251910754 · other copies
  9. ADaMatta, F. M.; Ramalho, J. D. C. (2006). Impacts of drought and temperature stress on coffee physiology and production: a review. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 18(1), 55–81. doi:10.1590/S1677-04202006000100006 · other copies
  10. BLambot, C.; Herrera, J. C.; Bertrand, B.; Sadeghian, S.; Benavides, P.; Gaitán, A. (2017). Cultivating Coffee Quality – Terroir and Agro-Ecosystem. In: Folmer, B. (ed.), The Craft and Science of Coffee, Academic Press, ch. 2, pp. 17–49. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803520-7.00002-5 · other copies
  11. BSosef, M. S. M.; Boer, E. (2000). Coffea liberica Bull ex Hiern. In: van der Vossen, H. A. M.; Wessel, M. (eds), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 16: Stimulants, PROSEA Foundation, Bogor (PROSEA database record 608).

Tier A · authoritative · B · trade and expert · C · general. Supporting quotes for every source are in the data version of this entry. If a publisher’s site refuses access, try the doi link or “other copies”.

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