Two species of coffee (Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora Pierre) are cultivated in Brazil, but most research on Zn fertilization to date has focused on C. arabica. This study was carried out to determine the functional relationship between soil Zn availability determined by DTPA and Mehlich-1 extractors and Zn content in coffee plants belonging to the species C. arabica, cv. Mundo Novo IAC 379-19 (MN) and C. canephora, cv. Apoatã IAC 2258 (AP), as well as grafted plants (MN/AP). The treatments were a 3 x 3 factorial combination of cultivars (MN, AP and MN/AP) and Zn doses (0, 10 and 20 mg dm-3). The plant Zn content, in relation to soil Zn availability, does not depend on the extractant, but varies with the coffee species or grafted species combination. The DTPA and Mehlich-1 extractants were similarly efficient to quantify the soil Zn availability, independent of the coffee species (C. arabica and C. canephora). Zn uptake peaked at soil Zn contents of 5.6 mg dm-3 (DTPA) and 6.6 mg dm-3 (Mehlich-1) for Mundo Novo (C. arabica) cultivar. Based on the Zn doses employed in the present study, the maximum Zn uptake of C. canephora (cv. Apoatã) and grafted plants (MN/AP) could not be determined, independently of the soil extractants.
Coffea arabica; Coffea canephora; graft; DTPA; Mehlich-1
