The specialty coffee market has grown significantly in the past decades and has several cultivars with productive potential. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sensory profile of the beverage produced from Coffea arabica L. genotypes based on postharvest processing and to identify cultivars with the greatest genetic potential for coffee cultivation in the city of Araponga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with two replicates and 11 genotypes with different levels of resistance to rust. The sensory profile demonstrated an interaction between the genotype and the processing technique. Five of the genotypes presented total scores above 85 points according to the SCAA protocol. Moreover, two of these genotypes yielded heightened sensory notes after undergoing dry processing. The selection of coffee genotypes should consider the level of technology involved in the drying of the coffee beans, which preserves the potential quality of the beverage.

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Alfalfa breeding aimed at trait improvement for livestock feed takes longer periods of time, if compared to many other crops. Therefore, better selection methods are necessary for the success of alfalfa breeding programs. Although knowing about selection methods is quite important, there is a notable lack of information, as regards successful solutions. This study aimed to use direct, indirect and simultaneous selection methods for selecting alfalfa cultivars, based on yield traits and nutritive value. The evaluated traits were subdivided into two groups: forage yield and nutritive value. Selection gains were estimated by direct, indirect and simultaneous selection for each group, considering the selection of the 25 % best cultivars. Direct and indirect selections among genotype averages are not efficient to provide the desirable responses to the whole set of traits. The results for simultaneous selection, using the Tai index, provided a more balanced gain distribution to the set of traits in all cuts. The simultaneous selection allowed the identification of the 5681 and Verdor cultivars in the first cut, as well as ProINTA Patricia in the second cut, as superior in the two groups of evaluated traits.

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The Mangaba (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) is a fruit tree rich in such essential vitamins as iron, calcium and protein, and plays an important social, cultural and economic role for farmers in the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes of Brazil. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and genetic gains in the agrotechnological attributes of a breeding population of the mangaba from Embrapa Meio Norte. The variables under analysis were: fruit weight (FW, g), fruit length (FL, mm), fruit diameter (FD, mm), skin weight (SW, g), number of seeds per fruit (NSF,nondimensional), seed weight (SW, g), total soluble solids (TSS,ºBrix), total titratable acidity (TTA,%), TSS/TTA ratio, pulp weight (PW, g) and percentage pulp (%Pulp, percentage). The data were analysed using the REML/BLUP procedure of the Selegen software. High and intermediate estimates of the components of repeatability were found for the variables of the population under study. It can therefore be inferred that these variables can be used in genetic studies, with a view to an increase in the efficiency of the selection process and to a progressive advance in the breeding population of this important native species. As such, taking repeatability as the limit to be assumed for heritability, the values obtained can be considered satisfactory in terms of genetic progress, showing good reliability for the phenotypic value as an indicator of genotypic value and significant repeatability of the expression of the evaluated trait. Genetic gains were seen for genotypes 6 and 12, considering the silmultaneous selection of eight highlighted genotypes based on the most important attributes of the improvement program, and which can contribute to the productive sector.