Nicotinamide and Azospirillum brasilense improves the quality of Coffea arabica seedlings ¹

Nicotinamida e Azospirillum brasilense melhoram a qualidade de mudas de Coffea arábica

HIGHLIGHTS:

The combined use of Azospirillum brasilense and nicotinamide has a synergistic effect on the growth of Coffea arabica seedlings.

The growth and quality of coffee seedlings were favored by nicotinamide doses between 23.6 and 61.8 mg L^-1.

The dose of 120 mg L^-1 of nicotinamide caused damage to the growth characteristics of coffee seedlings.

ABSTRACT

The use of biostimulants in coffee seedlings can promote gains in their growth and quality. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the growth and quality characteristics of Coffea arabica seedlings under the effect of the nicotinamide and Azospirillum brasilense application. The experimental design was randomized blocks with treatments arranged in a 5 × 2 factorial scheme, with four replicates. The treatments resulted from the use of five doses of nicotinamide (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mg L^-1 of water) combined with the absence and presence of Azospirillum brasilense applied to Coffea arabica seedlings from Catuaí Vermelho 144 cultivar. Plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, plant height:stem diameter ratio, shoot:root dry mass ratio, plant height:shoot dry mass ratio, and Dickson quality index were evaluated. The combined or isolated use of A. brasilense and nicotinamide, up to a dose of 33.5 mg L^-1, increased the biometric characteristics and dry mass accumulation. However, using nicotinamide doses between 30 and 61.8 g L^-1 increased the quality of Coffea arabica seedlings. The synergistic effect of the use of A. brasilense and nicotinamide was verified for the growth and quality of Coffea arabica seedlings.

Key words:
Coffea arabica L.; diazotrophic bacteria; vitamin B3; niacin