Multivariate Analysis of Agronomic and Chemical Traits in Irrigated Coffea Canephora Clones from the Brazilian Savanna

The Coffee production in the Brazilian Cerrado has expanded considerably under irrigated conditions, requiring the identification of agronomic and biochemical traits associated with superior genotype performance. This study investigated the relationships among agronomic, morphological, and biochemical characteristics of 35 irrigated Coffea canephora clones cultivated at Embrapa Cerrados, Brazil, during three consecutive crop seasons (2021/2022, 2022/2023, and 2023/2024). Agronomic traits included plant height, canopy projection, coffee yield, and bean size, while biochemical traits comprised caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and soluble solids. Pearson's correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to characterize trait associations and phenotypic variability. Coffee yield was positively correlated with plant height (r = 0.36), canopy projection (r = 0.25), beans retained above sieve 10 (r = 0.33), and caffeine content (r = 0.26), whereas chlorogenic acid exhibited predominantly negative correlations with agronomic variables, especially plant height (r = −0.50). Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ² = 211.03, p < 0.001) and a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin index of 0.65 confirmed the suitability of the dataset for PCA. The first three principal components explained 65.52% of the total variation, with the first two accounting for 52.33%. PCA efficiently discriminated crop years and genotypes, revealing contrasting phenotypic groups associated with vegetative vigor, productivity, and biochemical composition. The integration of correlation and multivariate analyses demonstrated that plant height and canopy projection are valuable indirect selection criteria for improving coffee yield, whereas chlorogenic acid represents an independent biochemical attribute. These findings provide useful information for selecting superior Coffea canephora genotypes and support breeding programs targeting high productivity and bean quality under irrigated Cerrado conditions.