Beneficiamento e qualidade de sementes de café arábica

A coffee seed lot of Catuai Amarelo cultivar was processed by air-screen machine and gravity table in order to study the effect of processing on seed quality. Samples were obtained in each step of the process constituting the treatments. It were evaluated on to germination, at 15 and 30 days, emergence index and speed in green house, and seedling dry matter. Water content, shape (peaberry and flat seeds) and the amount of seeds processed were also determined. Processing in air screen machine and gravity table improved the physiological quality of the coffee seeds; the equipments were efficient to separate a coffee seed lot into fractions of distinct physiological quality. Both, small and the light seeds showed inferior physiological quality compared to the other types. Peaberry seeds may have physiological quality similar to flat seeds.