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

Abstract

A B S T R A C T 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.

Comprehensive Review of Fungi on Coffee

“…Fungal infection is a serious problem affecting coffee production and quality [78]. The most serious fungal diseases of coffee reported are Coffee Leaf Rust, Coffee Berry Disease and Coffee Wilt Disease, Brown Eye Spot, and root rot disease [14,58,79].…”

Study of the Effect of Storage Period on the Growth of Fungi in Green Coffee in Open Atmospheres

“…Aspergillus sp, Fusarium sp., Pencillium sp., and Mucor sp. [3]. Studies confirm that coffee is susceptible to contamination during storage with various types of fungi, especially those of the genus Aspergillus, such as A. ochraeceus and A. niger and A. flavus and P. oxalicum, F. solani, Alternaria.…”

Determination of aflatoxins in coffee by means of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector and fungi isolation

“…All detected fungal species in the present study coincide with other published studies. A study was conducted by Abera et al 2015 [49] to assess the associations of mycoflora in the seed of coffee. The study showed isolations of fungal species, which belonged to the genera Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Mucor by agar plating technique [49].…”

“…A study was conducted by Abera et al 2015 [49] to assess the associations of mycoflora in the seed of coffee. The study showed isolations of fungal species, which belonged to the genera Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Mucor by agar plating technique [49]. It was shown that during different phases of development from harvesting to the storage phase, the contamination of the coffee cherries and beans or the colonisation by these microbes occurred.…”