Size and weight of coffee beans regarding altitudinal ranges in coffee-growing areas in Toledo, Norte de Santander (Colombia)

The research objective is to establish the relationship between the size and weight of Arabica coffee beans and five altitudinal gradients, from 1,000 to 1,800 MAMSL, in the Toledo municipality, Norte de Santander, Colombia. Four farms were randomly selected per gradient, and the 2017 and 2018 harvests were analyzed, obtaining 40 observations. We classified 120 g of green beans per sample by size and weight using sieves # 18, 16, and 14, and weighed 50 green beans per sample to determine the trends by altitudinal zone. The data obtained were examined by descriptive analysis, variance, and Student's t-Test. The highest value of grain size retained in sieve # 18 was 17.99 g ± 8.16 g (Zone 2), and the lowest was 12.87 g ± 5.30 g (Zone 1); in sieve # 16, the highest value was 87.30 g ± 18.60 g (Zone 2), and the lowest was 62.56 g ±s 19.49 g (Zone 1); in sieve # 14 the highest value was 52.86 g ± 18.20 g (Zone 1) and the lowest value was 28.60 g ± 10.10 g (Zone 2). As to the residues, the highest value corresponded to floor 5 with an average of 16.03 g ± 10.63 g, and Zone 3 obtained the lowest value with 8.82 g ± 3.54 g.