Desiccation of Coffea liberica seeds for 6 days in an air-conditioned room reduced seed and attached emltryo
moisture from 52.58% and 47.49% to 14.58% and 12.56% respectively. Seed germination and viability of
the attached emltryo were maintained at moderate levels of 66% and 38% respectively. However, none of the
desiccated seeds or embryos survived freezing in liquid nitrogen. Excised emltryos desiccated in the lamina flow
cabinet lost their moisture very rapidly from 36.8% to 9.27% within 1.5 hours. More than 70% of these emltryos
survived the desiccation. Moreover, partially desiccated emltryos at 17.17% moisture or less survived subfreezing
temperatures. Between 35% to 50% survived slow freezing to -3ffC, but this was reduced to approximately 30%
when they were subsequently plunged into liquid nitrogen. Fast freezing by direct plunge into liquid nitrogen also
resulted in 10% to 35% survival. Desiccation ofexcised coffee embryos for 0.5h to 17.17% moisture was optimal
for eryopreservation, irrespective of the speed offreezing. Differential thermal analyses of seed tissues suggest that
the absence of freezable water is an important factor for successful eryopreservation of excised coffee emltryos.
However, the importance of initial vigour, moisture variation and recovery media is also discussed
