Association of Mycoflora with Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Beans at Limmu Coffee Plantation, Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) bean quality can be affected by a number of factors of which storage fungi are one of the major ones. In Ethiopia coffee is a number one export commodity supporting the national economy but there was little information about the association of mycoflora with coffee beans. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the associations of mycoflora with coffee seeds and their effect on coffee infection at Limmu Coffee Plantation. The comparison was done using two coffee berry disease resistant selections (74112 and 74110) with and without parchment and with and without surface treatment of coffee beans with 5% sodium hypochlorite and storing under two storage conditions (local cold house and corrugated iron warehouse). Thus, the experiment was laid down as 2×2×2×2 factorial experiment with four replications. The study showed the association of four fungal species (Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp. and Mucor spp.) and some unidentified species in both blotting and agar plating techniques. In general, significantly higher infection percentage was found in coffee seeds without parchment and surface disinfection irrespective of the storage type and coffee selection. Thus, keeping coffee beans with parchment and disinfecting by disinfectants may reduce the association and prevalence of mycoflora on coffee and minimize postharvest problems.