A good maize plant breeding program must consider the effect of genotype-by-environment interactions (GEIs) and the correlation of important traits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate genetic variation, identify and investigate the implications of GEIs on breeding maize mutants in order to determine the ideal genotypes (stable and high yield), identify the best intercropping system for maize mutants, and identify the heritability and relationships of the traits tested that are important in cultivation. This research was carried out in five different intercropping systems in Upland West Java, Indonesia. A randomized block design with two replications was used in the field experiment. The measurement results revealed that the genetic diversity of maize mutants is broad, with six axes having eigenvalues ranging from 8.76 to 1.07 and a cumulative value of 76.64%. The neighbor-joining tree also showed a wide range of variation, yielding five distinct groups. The GEIs had a significant effect on the 14 traits tested, particularly yield. The environment had a significant impact on the variation of all the traits tested. The ideal cropping system for selecting the ideal maize mutant was Environment 4 (maize + rice). Superior maize mutants were successfully selected based on the GGE biplot. Thus, the sustainability index (SI) was used to successfully select maize mutants that were superior by 20.00%. These two methods selected only 15.00% of the maize mutants. One trait has a low heritability value, five traits have a moderate heritability value, and 17 traits have a high heritability value. The yields correlated positively and significantly with nine yield traits. Future maize-breeding programs can be based on data on genetic diversity, heritability, and the relationship of the traits tested. The best intercropping system can be used as an alternative for increasing maize cultivation income. Selected maize mutants can be proposed as new superior genotype candidates.

Coffee leaves contain a wide range of leaf compounds, which vary by growth stage. Recently, the importance of coffee leaf metabolites with beneficial phytochemicals has been widely identified. This research investigated Canephora coffee’s morphological and physiological development and analyzed the phytochemical composition of the main leaf stage. Canephora coffee leaves were harvested and classified into the following five growth stages: S1 (leaf age of 1–4 days), S2 (leaf age of 5–8 days), S3 (leaf age of 9–14 days), S4 (leaf age of 15–20 days), and S5 (leaf age of 21–27 days). The antioxidant activity, total phenol content, flavonoids, and tannin content of coffee leaves at different stages were observed. The results indicated that the highest values for the leaf area, dry weight, greenness, chlorophyll content, and carotenoid content were found at the last stage (S5). The specific leaf area (SLA) differences had higher values in the S3 and S1 growth stages. The youngest leaf phase (S1) was less green, more yellow, and brighter in color than the mature phase. By comparing the assays, it was found that a significant increase in the antioxidant activity and the contents of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and tannins were observed in the S1 and S2 growth stages.

This research examines the impact of adding dried coffee cherry pulp (CoCP) to goat feed on the digestibility of the feed, rumen fermentation, hematological, and nitrogen balance. A goat feeding experiment employed four male crossbreds (Thai Native × Anglo Nubian) aged 12 months and weighing 21.0 ± 0.2 kg each. The treatment was conceived as a 4 × 4 Latin square with four specific CoCP levels at 0, 100, 200, and 300 g/day. Dry matter intake (DMI), organic matter intake (OMI), and crude protein intake (CPI) were unaffected by the addition of CoCP. However, across treatment groups, there was a linear increase in ether extract intake (EEI) (p < 0.01), neutral detergent fiber intake (NDFI) (p = 0.06), and acid detergent fiber intake (ADFI) (p = 0.04), as well as a quadratic effect on DMI% BW (p = 0.04). The findings showed that rumen temperature, pH, ammonia-nitrogen, or pack cell volume did not change with CoCP supplementation. Total volatile fatty acid showed linear effects on acetate (p = 0.03) and was quadratically affected by propionate concentration (p = 0.02), acetate to propionate ratio (p = 0.01), acetic plus butyric to propionic acid ratio (p = 0.01), and methane estimation (p = 0.01). With increased CoCP supplementation, there was a linear decrease in protozoa count by about 20.2% as the amount of CoCP supplemented increased (p = 0.06). CoCP supplementation in animal feed resulted in a linear decrease in urinary nitrogen (p = 0.02) and a quadratic effect on absorbed nitrogen (p = 0.08) among treatment groups, with greater N utilization values found in goats fed 200 g/d CoCP. In light of this, supplementing CoCP into animal feed may improve animal digestion and rumen fermentation effectiveness while having no effect on feed intake, rumen microbes, or blood metabolites.

Multi-trait selection is very helpful in plant breeding programs. This technique can select genotypes for specific traits. Yield performance of maize hybrids is influenced by genotype-by-environment interactions (GEIs). This requires multi-environmental testing to identify superior hybrids. The aims of this study were to: (1) select maize hybrids within favorable traits such as grain yield and yield attributes; (2) identify genotype and environment interactions (GEIs) within maize yield; (3) evaluate maize hybrids adaptability to four different locations in West Java; and (4) identify a representative environment for testing and developing new maize hybrids. Twenty-two maize hybrids were evaluated using a randomized block design repeated three times in each environment. The genotype by traits (GT) biplot showed that G3 maize hybrid was superior to ear weight (EW), ear weight without corn husk (EwoH), ear weight per plot (EWP), plant height (PH), ear diameter (ED), and 1000 seed weight (OSW) traits. The G22 maize hybrid was superior to ear weight without corn husk per plot (EwoP), ratio seed weight and ear weight without corn husk (RSEW), grain yield per ha (Y), seed weight (SW), and seed weight per plot (SWP) traits. Combined analysis of variance showed that genotype (G), environment (E), and their interactions (GEIs) had a significant effect on yield (p < 0.01) with contributions of 85.63%, 2.24%, and 12.13%, respectively. The combined stability measurement results and the GGE biplot reveal that G2 is a stable high-yield hybrid, while G4 and G16 are unstable high-yield hybrids. The most representative environment is Arjasari, with the sole-cropping system (ARJ M). This study reveals that the resulting maize hybrid can be useful as a substitute for commercial hybrids currently used. The stable high yield of maize hybrids can be recommended as new varieties with wide adaptation, while unstable high-yield hybrids can be recommended as varieties adapted to specific environments.

Maxiselly Y, Maulana H, Chumthong A, Chiarawipa R. 2023. Relationship analysis based on phytochemical contents among coffee pulp from three coffee species collected in Southern Thailand and Jambi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 24: 5439-5445. Coffee pulp is part of the coffee cherry, except for the seed, and has many benefits for human health. The research aimed to analyze phytochemical contents and the relationship among the coffee pulp of three coffee species: Coffea arabica (Arabica), Coffea canephora (Robusta), and Coffea liberica (Liberica), collected in southern Thailand and Jambi, Indonesia. The coffee pulp of Arabica from Indonesia dominated in three variables: antioxidant activity (67.37±11.83 mg/100g DW), tannin (40.71 ±3.52 mg/100g DW), and phenolic (50.47±5.43 mg/100g DW). Robusta coffee pulp from Thailand contained a lower value of all phytochemical components. However, the coffee pulp of Liberica from Thailand had the highest value for flavonoid content (18.19±0.95 mg/100g DW) and saponin content (0.77±0.09 g/100g DW) among the three species in both countries. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) also supports the result, which shows connectivity among antioxidant activity, tannin, and phenolic to Arabica from Indonesia, with flavonoid and saponin to Liberica from Thailand. These results indicate both the species and the environment influenced the phytochemical compositions of coffee pulp. Thus, Indonesia may benefit from developing more Arabica and Robusta coffee pulp products, while Thailand may benefit from creating the Liberica coffee pulp product.

Coffea canephora, also known as Robusta, is one of the coffee species that dominates production in Indonesia. The morphology, physiology, and phytochemistry of Canephora coffee beans are affected by many factors, such as the fruit harvesting time and post-harvest processing. The maturity stage of coffee fruits at harvest time and post-harvest management will affect the various morpho-physiological and phytochemical compositions of the coffee beans. This research aimed to observe Canephora coffee beans’ morpho-physiological and phytochemical compositions for various harvesting stages and soaking durations. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design (CRD). It tested eight treatments, a combination of harvesting times (H1 = only red fruit/ripe stage, H2 = green, yellow, red fruits/strip-picking stage) and soaking durations (S0 = 0, S1 = 12, S2 = 24, and S3 = 36 h) with four replications. The main observations were the morpho-physiological traits (size, weight, color, moisture content, bean yield) and the phytochemical compositions (TPC = total phenolic content, AA = antioxidant activity, and CC = caffeine content) of the coffee bean before and after the drying process. Based on morphological characteristics (bean size and weight before drying), the highest value came from selective harvesting or ripe-picking only without soaking duration application (H1S0). While the selective harvesting method with a 24 h soaking duration showed a high value for the color trait (L and b*), the treatment that affected the color trait after drying was the strip-picking harvesting method without soaking (a* and b*). On the other hand, the phytochemical contents had H1S0 for the highest TPC and AA values. In contrast, H1S1 or selective harvesting, with 12 h of soaking, had the highest value of CC. The optimum combination of harvesting methods and soaking duration will improve the quality of the Canephora coffee beans.