Starmaya coffee

[1] Breeding self-pollinating plants by leveraging male-sterile parents is routinely done in other cash crops to produce F1 hybrids.

[1] Male-sterile parents for breeding is a central aspect to utilizing seed gardens for propagating F1 hybrids of self-pollinating species.

However, when breeding occurs in the field (in situ), care must still be taken to avoid pollination from nearby trees that are not part of the program.

[1] CIR-SM01 was then crossed with four different dwarf-type cultivars (Caturra red, Catuai 44, IAPAR59, and Marsellesa) used as pollen donors to test the possibility of producing F1 hybrid seeds.

This process evaluates a coffee on several different sensory descriptors including fragrance, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, balance, etc., rating each on a scale of 0–100.

[15][16] And while Starmaya was a proof of concept for mass production of F1 hybrid seeds, the researchers also evaluated its ability to resist rust infection.

[1] The researchers believe that Starmaya's resistance can be improved by first increasing the genetic fixedness (predictability of trait inheritance by progeny, i.e., a "fixed-line"[17]) of Marsellesa.

The high levels of rust incidence in Starmaya for this study were also partially attributed to alien pollination during the initial breeding trial.