Grain Coast

Grain Coast,

W Africa, former name of a part of the Atlantic coast that is roughly identical with the coast of modern Liberia. In the 15th cent. "grains of paradise," i.e., seeds of the melegueta pepper, became a major export item; hence the name Grain Coast.

Grain Coast

 

a section of the littoral of Liberia, between capes Mesurado and Palmas. The coast is low, flat, and of a lagoonal type. Equatorial rain forests and mangrove thickets are the predominant forms of vegetation. The Grain Coast acquired its name from its trade in Malaguetta pepper—”grains of paradise.”