Harvest-Dependent Variability in the Ripening and Fruit Characteristics of the Cenicafé 1 Variety of Coffee

The phenological responses of different progenies to the effect of ambient temperature on the duration of the fruit ripening cycle in Coffea arabica L. remain poorly understood. In this study, the ripening cycle in the coffee progenies of the Cenicafé 1 variety was recorded using the number of growing degree days during the main and secondary harvests. Concurrently, variables such as the number of fruits per node, firmness, diameter, volume, fresh mass, dry mass of the pericarp and bean, and the fruit respiration rate were measured. A semiparametric repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to assess inferential components, and Spearman’s multiple correlations were used to examine the associations between variables. No significant differences were observed between the progenies for any variable. However, we detected differences between harvests in terms of the number of growing degree days, number of fruits per node, fruit firmness, fruit diameter, fruit fresh mass, and pericarp and grain dry mass. Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed that the physical characteristics of the fruit exhibited the strongest associations among themselves. The absence of significant differences in the ripening cycle and fruit characteristics among the progenies may be attributed to their shared genetic origin. Finally, the observed change in the number of fruits per node between harvests directly influenced the physical characteristics of the fruits (diameter, volume, fresh mass, and pericarp dry mass), as the reduced physical space available for individual fruit growth when the node fruit load was higher limited their development.