CHARACTERIZATION OF BEVERAGE QUALITY IN Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner

Abstract

Differentiation of coffee according to its quality can result in added value. Both the coffee genotype and the environment influence beverage quality. The main species grown in the Amazon region is C. canephora, which includes two distinct botanical varieties: Conilon and Robusta. The aim of this study was to characterize beverage quality in C. canephora and distinguish the Conilon and Robusta botanical varieties and intervarietal hybrids. We evaluated the beverage quality of 130 superior clones from samples of hulled coffee collected in the experimental field of Embrapa Rondônia in the municipality of Ouro Preto do Oeste, RO, Brazil. The beverage was classified according to the Robusta Cupping Protocols, which also considers the nuances of the beverage, described as neutral, fruit-like, exotic, refined, and mild. The final mean values classified the Robusta botanical variety and the intervarietal hybrids as coffees with a premium beverage, and the Conilon botanical variety as usual good quality. The nuances of the Conilon botanical variety were found to be predominantly neutral (78%), as compared to the Robusta botanical variety and the intervarietal hybrids, which exhibited 50% and 44% of their beverages, respectively, with fruit-like, exotic, or mild nuances. The genetic parameters indicate that the genetic component was more important than the environmental in expression of coffee quality attributes. Genetic variability was observed in the population evaluated, except for the Uniform Cup and Clean Cup beverage attributes. Termos para indexação: Cafés especiais, melhoramento de plantas, parâmetros genéticos, conilon, robusta.

Beverage quality of most cultivated Coffea canephora clones in the Western Amazon

“…Estimates of heritability (h 2 ) and of the experimental coefficient of variation (CV e ) indicated that the post-harvest procedures were adequate in the evaluated environments. Higher estimates of the coefficient of variation were observed by (Souza et al, 2018a) in the evaluation of 130 C. canephora accessions in a single environment.…”

“…For field experiments, estimates of the coefficient of variation lower than 10% can be considered low (Pimentel-Gomes, 2009) (Table 4). In evaluation of a greater number of clones, Souza et al (2018a) observed an estimate of the coefficient of variation of 13.26 in evaluation of the attributes of beverage quality of 130 genotypes of C. canephora in a single environment.…”

“…The Robusta botanical variety, for its part, has greater vigor, larger leaves and fruit, late maturity, lower tolerance to water deficit and greater disease tolerance (Ferrão et al, 2013;Montagnon;Cubry;Leroy, 2012). While the Conilon botanical variety has a predominance of neutral, less full-bodied beverages, the Robusta botanical variety is distinguished by exotic nuances identified as fruity, chocolate and almonds (Souza et al, 2018a). Hybridization between these two varieties occurs naturally in the field, producing genotypes that can exhibit the best traits of each one of the groups (Ramalho et al, 2016;Dalcomo et al, 2015).…”

“…Evaluations of beverage quality presented by Souza et al (2018a) for the botanical varieties Conilon and Robusta and the intervarietal hybrids showed that nuances of the Conilon botanical variety were predominantly neutral (78%) compared to the Robusta botanical variety and intervarietal hybrids, which had 50% and 44%, respectively, of nuances classified as fruity, exotic, or mild.…”

Amazonian Robustas - new Coffea canephora coffee cultivars for the Western Brazilian Amazon

“…For a long time, C. canephora beans were used only for blends with arabica coffee beans. However, more recently, the beverage quality of the beans from this coffee tree has been appreciated for aroma and flavor traits: less sweetness, less acidity, and greater bitterness (Souza et al 2018). According to the Fine Robusta protocol, the main organoleptic attributes for evaluation of the Canephora species are aroma, flavor, aftertaste, salt/acidity ratio, bitterness/sweetness ratio, mouth-feel, cup balance, uniformity, cleanness, and overall aspects.…”