Phyllospheric Microorganisms and Bean Characteristics Influence Quality of Ten Genotypes of Coffea Arabica

Purpose: Phyllospheric microorganisms are among the most vital factors that influence the flavor and taste of coffee (Coffea arabica). Little is known about the relationship between bean properties in C. arabica and phyllospheric microorganisms. The study was carried out to assess bean morphology and biochemical compositions in Coffea arabica cultivars and correlation analysis between them and phyllospheric microorganisms. Materials: Ten C. arabica accessions were collected to assess the factor affecting coffee quality. An extensive variation was determined in terms of the bean morphological and biochemical compositions traits examined between the ten C. arabica accessions. Results: Correlation analysis demonstrated that the hundred-grain weight had strong positive correlation with transverse diameter (r = 0.80***) and longitudinal diameter (r = 0.61***). Additionally, strong positive correlation was determined between chlorogenic acid and longitudinal diameter (r = 0.69***), between caffeine and neochlorogenic acid (r = 1.00***), and between isochlorogenic acid B and isochlorogenic acid C (r = 0.74***). Furthermore, among four C. arabica cultivars, highly significant differences for the alpha and beta diversity indices of the pyllospheric bacterial and fungal communities were observed. Besides, T test indicated that the relative abundance of top five phyllospheric bacterial and fungal phyla exhibited significant different enrichment among the four C. arabica varieties. Conclusion: The redundancy analysis revealed that Proteobacteria were the most correlated with transverse diameter, caffeine, and trigonelline for dominant fungal phylum, and strong correlations were detected between Ascomycota and two bean biochemical compositions (isochlorogenic acid C and crude oil). This study may be useful for promoting the quality and yield of C. arabica.