Nicotinamide and Azospirillum brasilense improves the quality of Coffea arabica 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.