A low-caffeine wild coffee endemic to Mauritius and Réunion, historically explored as a naturally decaf breeding source.
*Coffea mauritiana* is a diploid species endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Like several other island and coastal East African Coffea species, it carries naturally low caffeine content, which drew scientific interest from the mid-20th century onward as a potential source of naturally decaffeinated genetics for breeding into cultivated coffee.
Wild populations are considered vulnerable owing to habitat loss on both islands, and the species today survives mainly in remnant native forest and botanical/genetic-resource collections rather than as a cultivated crop.
History
Described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1798 from Réunion material, studied through the 20th century as a low-caffeine genetic resource, alongside other Mascarene and East African low-caffeine wild species.
Field notes
- i
Mauritiana's naturally low caffeine content made it an early candidate for 'naturally decaf' coffee breeding research well before C. charrieriana's caffeine-free discovery.
- ii
It is endemic to just two islands, Mauritius and Réunion, and is considered threatened by habitat loss.
Sources · 2 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-10.
- Coffea L. — Plants of the World Online · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Coffea mauritiana Lam. — Plants of the World Online · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew