VARIACIONES EN ÁREA FOLIAR Y CONCENTRACIONES DE CLOROFILAS Y NUTRIMENTOS ESENCIALES EN HOJAS DE CAFÉ ROBUSTA (Coffea canephora P.) DURANTE UN CICLO ANUAL

Abstract

Leaves are the main organ where photosynthesis takes place in the plant, and their chemical composition can vary according to their stages of development.
In this study, the foliar area was measured, as well as the concentration of chlorophyll and nutrients in Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) leaves of the varieties Robmex and FRT-07 in different stages of growth: vegetative, flowering and fructification. The leaf area (~140 cm2) was larger in the Robmex
variety during the flowering stage. In this same variety, there were higher means of chlorophyll a (2.00 mg g^-1 FBW) and total (2.83 mg g^-1 FBW), and of Cu (47.0 mg kg^-1) in the vegetative stage. With the exception of Cu, all other essential nutrients were higher in the FRT-07 variety.