Studies on ascorbic acid in coffee plants, 2: Distribution in ripe fruits and its relationship with coffee quality

Ascorbic acid content was estimated in different components of ripe fruits of Coffea arabica L. (S.795, S.1934 and Kents), Coffea canephora Pierre Ex Froehner var. S.274 and Coffea dewevrei var. excelsa. Among the five plant types there were no significant differences in the ascorbic acid content in the fruit wall and seed, but there were significant differences in the ascorbic acid content of the mucilage. The content of ascorbic acid was in the following order in the various fruit components: seed > fruit wall > mucilage. Ascorbic acid content was also determined in five different quality grades of arabica coffee seeds. It was found that the fine grade seeds had the highest ascorbic acid content while the lowest was in the poor grade seeds