Cl. Ky et al., Inheritance of coffee bean sucrose content in the interspecific cross Coffea pseudozanguebariae x Coffea liberica 'dewevrei', PLANT BREED, 119(2), 2000, pp. 165-168
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.