Variação sazonal de atributos ecofisiológicos e metabólicos de café arábica em três altitudes

Abstract

The south of Minas Gerais is the largest coffee producer in the state and Brazil, marked by great soil and climatic variations, which makes the coffee quality is expressed in different ways. The features related to the development and fruiting of the coffee are highly influenced by the environment in this way, it becomes necessary to combine behavioral studies of plant that can widen this knowledge. Therefore, given the lack of studies that identify and characterize comparative physiological patterns among coffee under different quotas altitudes this study aimed to identify the behavior of the growth and development of the coffee through analysis of gas exchange, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid peroxidation and quantification of the levels of hydrogen peroxide, beyond the quantification of non-enzymatic antioxidant ascorbate. Coffee undergoing high altitude have lower photosynthetic, respiratory and photorespiratory rates, but have higher accumulation of carbohydrates combined with a lower formation of reactive oxygen species and higher content of ascorbate. Those coffee trees had higher growth of branches which, along with increased accumulation of reserves leads to a late maturation.