peaberry
(ˈpiːbɛrɪ)
[f. pea1 + berry n.1]
Name for the single round seed of the coffee-plant, occurring towards the end of the branches, through abortion of one of the usual two seeds in the fruit.
The peaberries have a higher commercial value, and are sifted out from the ordinary beans.
| 1879 Spon Encycl. Arts, Manuf., etc. I. 691 The ‘beans’, usually a pair of oval, plano-convex seeds, though sometimes there is but one seed, called, from its shape, ‘peaberry’. 1893 Sir G. Watts Dict. Econ. Prod. India s.v., There are three commercial types as to form: Mocha, small round peaberry; Bourbon, pointed and medium-sized; and Martinique, large and flattened. |