Applicability of the Method of Linear Dimensions to Estimate Leaf Area in Improved Genotypes of <i>Coffea arabica</i> and <i>Coffea canephora</i>

Abstract

There are different methods to determinate leaf area in coffee plants; however, methodologies that allow measurement of leaf area accurately and in nondestructive ways are very important, as they are less economically costly and enable measurements on the same leaf over time, making it possible to describe accurate patterns of growth. The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability of the method to estimate leaf area using linear dimensions of leaves for improved genotypes of <i> Coffea arabica L. </i> and <i> Coffea canephora </i> Pierre ex A. Froehner. The experiment was conducted in two separated competition fields, each one following factorial schemes 10 × 2, with 10 genotypes and 2 methods to obtain the leaf area: measuring linear dimensions, and using equation model (estimated leaf area) and leaf area integrator (real leaf area). The genotypes for both <i> Coffea arabica L. </i> and <i> Coffea canephora </i> Pierre ex A. Froehner have different leaf areas, making it possible to discriminate groups of genotypes for both species using the size of their leaves as classification criteria. Even with the differences between genotypes, the pattern of leaf shape remains similar, confirming the applicability of the method to estimate leaf area using linear dimensions of leaves for improved genotypes, such as the model proposed by Barros, without the occurrence of loss of accuracy for the improved genotypes, for both Arabica and Conilon coffee, studied in this experiment.