Coffee production years after planting for a coffee plant to produce coffee beans that are ripe enough to harvest. The plant eventually grows small white blossoms that drop and are replaced by green berries. These green berries will become a deep red color as they ripen. It takes about 9 months for the green cherries to reach their deepest red color. Because this kind of harvest is labor-intensive, and thus more costly, it is used primarily to harvest the finer arabica beans. The laborers who pick coffee by hand receive payment by the basketful. , payment per basket is between US$2.00 to
Berry practice has come under scrutiny in the past years because of the low wages and poor living standard for the "berry-pickers", as well as the lack of worker safety. Once ripened, berries are typically of a contrasting color to their background (often of green leaves), making them visible and attractive to frugivorous animals and birds. This assists the wide dispersal of the plants' seeds. Berry colors are due to natural plant pigments, such as anthocyanins, together with other flavonoids localized mainly in berry skins, seeds and leaves. Although berry pigments have antioxidant properties "in vitro", there is insufficient physiological evidence