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Caffeine content variation in single green Arabica coffee seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2010

Paulo Mazzafera  and
Maria Bernadete Silvarolla
Paulo Mazzafera*
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas, CP 6109, 13083-970Campinas, SP, Brazil
Maria Bernadete Silvarolla
Affiliation:
Coffee Research Center Alcides Carvalho, Agronomic Institute of Campinas, CP 28, 13012-970Campinas, SP, Brazil
*
*Correspondence Fax: +55 19 35216358 Email: pmazza@unicamp.br
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Abstract

Coffea arabica L. is highly homozygotic and caffeine content in most cultivars is reported to be similar (approximately 1%). The caffeine content was analysed using individual seeds of cultivars Catuaí Vermelho, Mundo Novo and Bourbon Vermelho, and varieties Mokka and Laurina of C. arabica. Seeds were cut transversely in half, a thin slice from each was extracted in a mixture of chloroform and methanol, and caffeine was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The extraction procedure was validated by comparison with two conventional methods less suited for analysing large numbers of seeds. The results revealed an unexpectedly large variation [Catuaí Vermelho: 3.72–25.9 mg g− 1 (seeds); Mundo Novo: 5.06–18.59 mg g− 1; Bourbon Vermelho: 6.76–16.59 mg g− 1] even in types naturally low in caffeine such as Laurina (1.17–9.97 mg g− 1) and Mokka (2.01–9.64 mg g− 1). The mean values for all cultivars were always in the range of the caffeine content found in the literature. Several studies showed that C. arabica has approximately 10% cross-pollination, but the variation observed in caffeine content in individual seeds was too large to be explained by cross-pollination.

Keywords

caffeineCoffea arabicacoffee breedinggenetic variationseeds
Type
Research Article
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 163 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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