Exudate coloring test suitability for assessing the viability of coffee seeds (Coffea arabica L.)

Abstract

The exudate coloring test has been promising in order to quickly evaluate the quality of coffee seeds. The objective of the research was to adjust the coloring exudate test for coffee seeds and to evaluate the influence of the water content of seeds and of the imbibition period on the test results. Seeds from five lots of ‘Catuaí 44’ were used, with the following water contents: 30%, 20% and 12%. For the exudate coloring test, the parchment and silver skin (spermoderm) from the seeds were removed. Then, the seeds were distributed on a paper towel, moistened with water, and kept in a germinator at 25 °C for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h. Four classes of coloring intensity were established: absence of color (A), light (L), medium (M) and strong (S) intensities, assigning the values 0, 3, 5 and 10 for each class, respectively. The Viability Index (VI) was calculated by the equation VI=100-(0xA)-(3xL)-(5xM)-(10xS). The exudate coloring test may be recommended to estimate the viability of coffee seeds, providing results correlated to the germination test. The best results were obtained for the seeds with 12% moisture content imbibed for 72, 96 and 120 h and seeds with 30% moisture content after 72 and 120 h of imbibition.