Morphological variability of native maize (Zea mays L.) of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, Mexico

The objective of this research was to assess the morphological variability of maize landraces native of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, México, in order to, besides define it, related it to races, commercial varieties and with the altitude of the localities of seed collection. The genetic resources evaluated were 134 accessions collected in 34 localities, along with 10 controls. Experiments were established on three localities using a Lattice 12 x 12. Thirty-two morphological traits were analyzed, 27 of them resulting with highly significant differences, reflecting the high variability at the level of morphological characters, many of them of agronomic interest. From variance analysis 16 traits were selected for use in a cluster analysis through the Modified Localization Method, which joint the populations in six groups, most of them in the group 1, with morphological traits of long cycle varieties: high plants, with greater primary branches of the tassel, greater ear diameter and length, and greater grain length and width. The conclusions indicate that the morphological variability of Landraces is not associated with the altitude of localities of seed collection and that these have more relation with Chalqueño race, small with Conico race, absent with Conico Norteño and Palomero Toluqueño races and almost absent with commercial varieties.The objective of this research was to assess the morphological variability of maize landraces native of the west highland of Puebla and east highland of Tlaxcala, México, in order to, besides define it, related it to races, commercial varieties and with the altitude of the localities of seed collection. The genetic resources evaluated were 134 accessions collected in 34 localities, along with 10 controls. Experiments were established on three localities using a Lattice 12 x 12. Thirty-two morphological traits were analyzed, 27 of them resulting with highly significant differences, reflecting the high variability at the level of morphological characters, many of them of agronomic interest. From variance analysis 16 traits were selected for use in a cluster analysis through the Modified Localization Method, which joint the populations in six groups, most of them in the group 1, with morphological traits of long cycle varieties: high plants, with greater primary branches of the tassel, greater ear diameter and length, and greater grain length and width. The conclusions indicate that the morphological variability of Landraces is not associated with the altitude of localities of seed collection and that these have more relation with Chalqueño race, small with Conico race, absent with Conico Norteño and Palomero Toluqueño races and almost absent with commercial varieties

Cup quality attributes of Catimors as affected by size and shape of coffee bean (Coffea arabica L.)

During the dry processing of coffee, beans are classified by size, shape, weight, and color, resulting in the commercial preparation requested by the client, who can be of American, European, or other descent. The preparations consist of a combination of bean sizes and shapes, with a specified maximum number of defects. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the shape and size of the bean of the three main Catimors grown in Mexico, i.e., Colombia, Costa Rica, and Oro Azteca, on the cupping quality attributes of the beverage. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the cupping quality parameters of the Colombia and Costa Rica varieties, whereas Oro Azteca exhibited a final score significantly lower compared to those varieties. For beans of size 13/64 (Z13), significant differences were found between bean forms (flat, peaberry, and mixed) of the Colombia variety. Flat (FL) beans scored almost seven points higher in the final score compared to peaberries (PE). In coffee beans of size Z14 or Z15, mixed (MI) samples scored equal or significantly higher than FL samples in the three varieties. Small beans (Z13 and Z14) of samples not separated by shape (PE and FL together) obtained equal or significantly higher scores in the cup quality attributes of the beverage compared to bigger beans. It was demonstrated that the shape and size of the coffee bean significantly affect the cup quality parameters depending upon the variety