Caffeine content of diploid coffee species

Although the popularity of coffee as beverages is due ti the alertness caused by caffeine, there is an increasing market for decaffeinated coffee. Attempts of interspecific crosses have been made at the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas as a strategy to reduce caffeine in coffee seeds. In addition to the reduced number of individuals in the F1 progenies, very few were considered promising to be used in a breeding program. Here we present the results of analyses of the caffeine content in seeds of several coffee species which might be used in new interspecific crosses.