Does Root-Zone Heating Mitigate the Cold Injury in Coffee Tree (<i>Coffea arabica</i>)?

ABSTRACT: Cold winter injury is a significant challenge in cultivating tropical trees in temperate regions. The conventional solution involves heating the entire greenhouse to protect the plants; however, this approach is fuel-intensive and costly. This study investigated whether root-zone heating can mitigate cold injury in coffee trees. In the Control, non-heated treatments, leaf relative water content dropped to approximately 70%, leading to wilting, whereas in the Heat treatment, it remained above 90%. In the Control treatment, defoliation progressed, ultimately resulting in more than 50% leaf loss. In contrast, defoliation was reduced by approximately 20% with the Heat treatment. During the cold-treatment period, photosynthesis declined sharply in both the Control and Heat treatments, with CO

SUBMITTER: Suganami M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12736433 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature