Effects of coffee maturation regulators

Abstract

The maturation of coffee fruits is a concern of coffee growers, as it directly influences the efficiency of the harvest and can interfere with the quality of the product. Therefore, the use of maturation regulators that act by controlling the speed of maturation are being increasingly used. As such, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the regulators Ethrel® and Mathury™, in 4 treatments composed by the control, application of Ethrel®, application of Mathury™, application of the combination of Ethrel® followed by the application of Mathury™. Thus, the maturation stage of the fruits, the type, and the final grade regarding the quality of the drink were evaluated. After that, the data of the evaluated characteristics were submitted to statistical analysis by the Scott-Knott test at 5% probability. The maturation regulators used in this experiment did not interfere with the quality of the product and the classification of the coffee. However, treatments with application of Ethrel® alone or combined with Mathury™ provided anticipation and uniformity of coffee fruits.