The harvesting time and drying methods may influence the quality of coffee seeds during storage. This work was conducted with the objective of understand the effects of maturation stages and drying methods on the physiological quality and storability of coffee seeds. The experiments were performed at the Seed Analysis and Electrophoresis Laboratory of the Department of Agricultural of UFLA. The fruits of the cultivar Rubi were harvested, depulped and the mucilages removed by fermentation and the seeds washed and let on paper for removal of the water. The seeds were submitted to conventional drying (under shade) and drying in stationary drier at temperature of 35ºC. As a control, seeds with no drying were analyzed. The evaluations were done soon after the drying treatments and after four and eight months of storage. The seeds were stored at 10ºC in air-tight plastic packages. The germination test, radicle protrusion, seedling dry matter, emergence index speed, electric conductivity, electrophoresis analyses of heat-resistant proteins and quantification of endo-â-mannanase activity were the parameter evaluated. The design was completely randomized with 2 (maturation stages) x 3 (dryings) x 3 (storage time) factorial scheme with four replications. Seeds harvested in the cherry stage have greater storage potential than in the green-yellow stage. Reduced germination and vigor occur in the coffee seeds harvested in the green yellow stage, when submitted to fast drying. The presence or intensity heat-resistant protein bands is associated with seed drying. Greater activity of endo-ß-mananase enzyme occurs in seeds harvested in the cherry stage than in the green yellow stage. Increase of the activity of endo-ß-mananase enzyme occurs during storage.
Coffea arabica; desiccation tolerance; storage
