**3.3 Somatic embryo of** *Coffea*

The main product of somatic embryogenesis is the somatic embryo. Somatic embryos are structures that go through different stages of development until they reach that of a plant [18, 28]. These stages of development are perfectly organized, with all the morphological characteristics corresponding to the same stages of development of zygotic embryos [18, 84, 85] being globular, heart, and seedling. Somatic embryos are bipolar morphological structures, presenting radicle, hypocotyl and cotyledons. The somatic embryo does not exhibit endosperm differentiation and is independent of explant tissue after initiation and development. Somatic embryos do not go through the maturation or desiccation phase as in zygotic embryos. This system is not connected to the vascular tissue of the mother or explant during its initiation and development [86]. Moreover, in the direct pathway, it is possible to find somatic embryos at different developmental stages in the same explant [16]. This response pattern can also be found in the indirect callus.

Somatic embryos formed by the direct and indirect pathways are transferred to the germination stage and generally use MS/2 culture medium added 20 g/L sucrose and without plant growth regulators. This same medium can also be used for embryo growth and development to the seedling stage. These observations suggest that *Coffea* somatic embryos may have a hormonal balance that favors differentiation of developmental stages, requiring only nutrients from the culture medium without phytoregulators for germination and growth and development.
