The configuration of the sensory quality of coffee begins in the tree, where chemical precursors are deposited and formed in the seeds as the fruits develop. Fruit within the range classified as mature can have a wide range of properties. This study evaluated three degrees of maturity and established their chemical and sensory characteristics using analytical techniques such as liquid and gas chromatography. The maturity states evaluated did not show differences in organic acids, free fatty acids, lipids, total chlorogenic acids, proteins, alkaloids or sucrose. Fructose and glucose showed differences with respect to the degree of maturity, with higher values associated with more developed states. The analysis of variance did not show a significant effect on sensory attributes or sensory quality. The chromatic coordinate a* of the CIEL*a*b* scale reached a maximum value of 25.16, and the evaluated states were different from each other.

During coffee harvest, picked berries fall to the ground where they serve as a reservoir for the coffee berry borer (CBB) which then infest coffee berries on the trees. This study tested the effect of fallen CBB-infested coffee berries on the infestation of coffee trees (Coffea arabica). Three-year-old trees were treated with either 0, 1, 5, 10, 15, or 20 CBB-infested berries placed on the root vicinity. The CBB infestation of coffee trees was sampled every 30 days during 6 months for four coffee productive cycles. The experiment was set up at four different locations comprising different altitudes (1,218; 1,381; 1,470; and 1,700 m.a.s.l.) and the measurements were taken during 4 years where the climatic events of El Niño, La Niña, Neutral, and transitions El Niño/La Niña were present. The results show that CBB-infested berries left on the ground are a reservoir of CBB for 140 ± 8.2 days and infest developing healthy coffee berries. In a climate Neutral year, one CBB-infested ground berry left on the ground infested on average 590.2 ± 142.2 berries in coffee trees grown at 1,218 m.a.s.l. At the same altitude, one CBB-infested ground berry resulted in 151.5 ± 29.1 infested tree berries during La Niña year and 959.0 ± 89.6 during El Niño year. The CBB infestation was positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with altitude (R²= 0.99 andR²= −0.96, respectively). This study highlights the importance of careful harvesting practices to prevent berries from falling to the ground, followed by ground sanitation to limit later infestation of the coffee crop.

A finales de 1960, el programa de mejoramiento genético de Cenicafé inició el desarrollo de variedades resistentes a la roya del cafeto, altamente productivas, con el perfil de taza característico del café de Colombia, porte bajo, uniformidad fenotípica razonable y adaptabilidad. Consciente de los actuales requerimientos de los caficultores colombianos, en Cenicafé, se desarrolló la nueva variedad Cenicafé 1, que posee como características un porte tipo variedad Caturra resistente a la roya y a la enfermedad de las cerezas del café, producción igual y porcentaje de café supremo mayor que la variedad Castillo. Para el desarrollo de esta nueva variedad se evaluaron progenies avanzadas provenientes del cruzamiento entre la variedad Caturra y el híbrido de Timor 1343; dichas progenies se establecieron en la estación experimental Naranjal de Chinchiná - Caldas, y se verificó su comportamiento en las estaciones experimentales de Pueblo Bello - Cesar, El Rosario - Antioquia, Paraguaicito - Quindío y El Tambo - Cauca.

Los modelos que describen relaciones alométricas, basados en el conteo de hojas, son métodos no destructivos, fáciles y económicos para estimar el área foliar en árboles. Con este propósito se realizaron mediciones del área foliar, censando las hojas en varios árboles de café Variedad Castillo® (Coffea arabica L.) de diferentes edades, estableciendo y validando la relación entre el área foliar de la rama y el número de hojas en ella, a través de una regresión lineal simple, con coeficientes de regresión diferentes de cero, según prueba de t, al 5%. Posteriormente, se evaluó la estimación del área foliar a nivel de árbol con respecto a los valores observados. Además, con la información registrada se determinó el número de ramas por árbol en las cuales deben contarse el número de hojas, para estimar el área foliar del árbol, con un error menor del 20%, y se estableció una primera relación entre el área foliar y la producción en café cereza verde, con un coeficiente de determinación del 78,3%.

Coffee berry disease (CBD) is not present in the Americas and presents a potential risk for growing coffee. Therefore, Colombia, which has been in scientific cooperation with the Centro de Investigação de Ferrugens do Cafeeiro (CIFC) of Portugal for more than 30 years, has been evaluating the genetic resistance of nine populations of C. arabica to 13 isolates of Colletotrichum kahawae JM Waller and PD Bridge, which are diverse in terms of aggressiveness and geographical origin. The phenotypes observed in the interaction between C. arabica and C. kahawae were used to develop a statistically reliable scale (p-value ≥ 0.001) to categorize resistance in C. arabica into five classes, and this scale was used to classify the nine populations of C. arabica evaluated. The results allowed us to corroborate the potential of Timor Hybrid CIFC 1343 (TH CIFC 1343) as a source of genetic resistance to CBD and to identify new genetic sources not yet explored for the development of varieties in Colombia that may eventually mitigate the effects of CBD in the face of increasing rainfall events and minimum temperatures due to climate change, which can favor disease development. Additionally, the results suggest that the existence of races in the C. arabica–C. kahawae complex is probable, and a selection of genotypes was identified as a possible differential series of races in C. kahawae.

Conocer la vulnerabilidad de una zona a la broca de café, teniendo claro que es una condición natural de esta y que, bajo ciertos escenarios climáticos, la plaga puede comportarse de una forma esperada, es una ventaja competitiva clara para los caficultores que estén en ese sitio, pues podrán anticipar muchas decisiones de manejo. En este Avance Técnico consulte la vulnerabilidad del departamento de Antioquia a la broca del café en diferentes escenarios climáticos, Neutro, La Niña y El Niño.