Optimizing drip fertigation at different periods to improve yield, volatile compounds and cup quality of Arabica coffee

Rongmei Li; Jinhuan Cheng; Xiaogang Liu; Zhihui Wang; Huiyong Li; Jinjin Guo; Haidong Wang; Ningbo Cui; Lu Zhao

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1148616

Optimizing drip fertigation at different periods to improve yield, volatile compounds and cup quality of Arabica coffee

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 2:14:1148616. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1148616. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rongmei Li¹, Jinhuan Cheng², Xiaogang Liu¹, Zhihui Wang³, Huiyong Li¹, Jinjin Guo¹, Haidong Wang¹, Ningbo Cui³, Lu Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.
² Tropical and Subtropical Economic Crops Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Baoshan, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering and College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Abstract

How to improve and regulate coffee bean yield and quality through split fertilization in the whole life cycle of coffee is still unclear and deserves further study. A field experiment of 5-year-old Arabica coffee trees was conducted for 2 consecutive years from 2020 to 2022. The fertilizer (750 kg ha^-1 year^-1, N-P₂O₅-K₂O:20%-20%-20%) was split in three times at early flowering (FL), the berry expansion (BE), and the berry ripening (BR). Taking equal fertilization throughout the growth cycle (FL₂₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₂₅₀) as the control check, variable fertilizations including FL₁₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₃₅₀, FL₁₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₂₅₀, FL₂₅₀BE₁₅₀BR₃₅₀, FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀, FL₃₅₀BE₁₅₀BR₂₅₀, and FL₃₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₁₅₀. Leaf net photosynthetic rate (A _net), stomatal conductance (g _s), transpiration rate (T _r), leaf water use efficiency (LWUE), carboxylation efficiency (CE), partial factor productivity of fertilizer (PFP), bean yield, crop water use efficiency (WUE), bean nutrients, volatile compounds and cup quality, and the correlation of nutrients with volatile compounds and cup quality was evaluated. FL₃₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₁₅₀ had the maximum A _net and g _s, followed by FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀. The highest dry bean yield and WUE were obtained from FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀, which increased by 8.86% and 8.47% compared with FL₂₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₂₅₀ in two-year average. The ash, total sugar, fat, protein, caffeine and chlorogenic acid in FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀ were 6.47%, 9.48%, 3.60%, 14.02%, 4.85% and 15.42% higher than FL₂₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₂₅₀. Cluster analysis indicated FL₁₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₂₅₀, FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀, FL₃₅₀BE₁₅₀BR₂₅₀ and FL₃₅₀BE₂₅₀BR₁₅₀ under medium roasted degree increased pyrazines, esters, ketones and furans, FL₁₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₂₅₀ and FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀ under dark roasted degree increased ketones and furans. The aroma, flavor, acidity and overall score of medium roasted coffee were higher than dark roasted coffee, while the body score of dark roasted coffee was higher than medium roasted coffee. The nutrient contents were correlated with the volatile compounds and cup quality. TOPSIS indicated that FL₂₅₀BE₃₅₀BR₁₅₀ was the optimal fertilization mode in the xerothermic regions. The obtained optimum fertilization mode can provide a scientific basis for coffee fertilization optimization and management.

Keywords: Arabica coffee; bean nutrients; cup quality; optimized fertilization; volatile compounds.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51979133, 51922072, 52279041), Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2022YFQ0082) and Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects (grant NO. 202301AS070030).