Cherry and bean size distribution of Gayo arabica coffee harvested from different farm elevations

Abstract The Gayo highlands are known as a region with an ideal altitude for producing high-quality Gayo Arabica coffee beans. The physical properties of coffee beans not only affect the physical quality but can also affect the quality or flavour of brewed coffee, thus greatly affecting the interest and selling price of coffee in the trade. This study aims to determine the distribution of cherry size and physical quality of Gayo arabica coffee beans harvested at several different farm elevations. The results showed that the medium farm elevation (1346 m asl) produced a larger Gayo arabica coffee cherry size compared to that of the high farm elevation (1738 m asl). The number of coffee beans per 100 g of bean harvested from medium farm altitude (436 beans) is significantly lower (larger bean size) than that of high farm altitude (553 beans). The average number of coffee beans per 100 g of bean was 495 ± 69 beans (the average weight of a bean was 0.202 ± 0.028 g). Meanwhile, the physical quality of Gayo arabica coffee beans at higher farm altitudes (1738 m asl) was better than that of medium farm elevation (1346 m asl).