Inheritance of coffee bean sucrose content in the interspecific cross Coffea pseudozanguebariae x Coffea liberica 'dewevrei'

The sucrose content of coffee bean is an important component of the coffee flavour: the higher the sucrose content in green beans, the more intense co ffee cup flavour. Beans of the anciently cultivated cultivar Coffea liberic a 'dewevrei' have low levels of sucrose compared with beans of the wild spe cies Coffea pseudozanguebariae. In the present study, the inheritance of th e sucrose accumulation in the interspecific cross C. pseudozanguebariae x C . liberica 'dewevrei' was examined. The sucrose content was measured in mat ure beans of both parental species, and in F-1 and backcross hybrids using high-pressure Equid chromatography coupled to pulsed amperometric detection . The sucrose accumulation in all but one hybrid, showed genetic additivity . A segregation distortion was identified in the offspring of the backcross to C. pseudozanguebariae. There was no year effect and only a low genotype x year interaction. Consequences for breeding, in relation to the coffee c up taste improvement, are discussed.