| Title: | Effects of reduced rainfall on coffee quality and volatile composition |
| Author(s): | Pappo E; Keene S; Smith H; Song Y; Colquhoun T; Wilson C; Flory SL; |
| Address: | "University of Florida School of Natural Resources and Environment, Gainesville, FL, USA. Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA. University of Florida Environmental Horticulture Department, Gainesville, FL, USA. University of Florida Agronomy Department, Gainesville, FL, USA. University of Florida Plant Innovation Center, Gainesville, FL, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1097-0010 (Electronic) 0022-5142 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: For a significant subset of agricultural products, including coffee, wine and tea, sensory perceptions of terroir (i.e., characteristic flavors imparted by the growing environment) are tightly linked to the product's value. With increasing climate change, it is critical to understand how shifts in climate, such as changes in precipitation, may interact with management practices (e.g., cultivar selection) to impact sensory quality in terroir-driven crops, and what biochemical compounds may be associated with those impacts. Here, sensory quality and volatile profile composition were assessed for four Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) cultivars grown in a field experiment where precipitation was reduced by rainout shelters, resulting in 14% lower soil moisture on average. RESULTS: Our results indicate an overall increase in yield coincident with a moderate decrease in sensory quality in response to reduced precipitation. The presence and magnitude of the sensory quality shift varied by cultivar and sensory attribute, though the Acidity attribute was consistently negatively impacted across cultivars, albeit with a high degree of uncertainty. Additionally, 31 volatile compounds were identified across green coffee samples that were variably impacted by reduced precipitation. Hierarchical clustering analysis identified patterns in volatile clustering associated with sensory attributes suggesting that reduced precipitation effects on sensory attributes may depend on nonlinear combinations of secondary metabolites. CONCLUSION: Ultimately, our results advance efforts to improve predictions of climate impacts on coffee-growing landscapes and communities and highlight the value of considering indicators of harvest value beyond yield to improve economic forecasts for agroecosystems under climate change" |
| Keywords: | climate change coffee reduced precipitation sensory quality volatile compounds; |
| Notes: | "PublisherPappo, Emily Keene, Shea Smith, Hunter Song, Yangyang Colquhoun, Thomas Wilson, Chris Flory, S Luke eng American Floral Endowment/ UF/IFAS Center for Stress Resilient Agriculture/ USDA-ARS-FNRI/ England 2023/08/31 J Sci Food Agric. 2023 Aug 31. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.12949" |
