5 Food Items Made from Bizarre Processes

Kopi Luwak

Titled ‘the most expensive coffee in the world’, Kopi Luwak is produced from the coffee beans that are passed through the digestive system of a civet cat. Native to the Southeast Asia, these Asian palm civets eat the coffee cherries for the fleshy pulp and inside the digestive tract, the fermentation process starts. The protease enzymes from the luwaks seep into the beans and makes shorter peptides and more free amino acids. But the beans don’t get digested and spending more than a day at the digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps keeping their shape. However, beans may contain small amounts of the enteric organisms associated with the feces and after being collected by the farmers, beans undergo thorough washing. Finally, they are roasted eliminating any remaining bacteria. Beans are now less acidic, lower in protein and lower in caffeine. This is how the world’s most prized coffee, which is smooth, aromatic and bitter less, is produced. In India, it is sold at an exorbitant price of Rs 8,000 per kg, while it is available at Rs 20,000-25,000 per kg overseas.