A factorial crossing scheme of Coffea canephora (two parents from the Congolese group crossed to 14 parents of the Guinean group) was used to evaluate genetic parameters of several biochemical compounds, bean weight and crop outturn (ration of dry bean weight to fresh berry weight). For most characters studied, additive genetic effects were preponderant. Narrow-sense heritability was high for caffeine content (h2(ns): 0.80), fat matter content (h2(ns): 0.74), bean weight (h2(ns): 0.73) and crop outturn (h2(ns): 1). It was intermediate for trigonelline (h2(ns): 0.38) and chlorogenic acid (h2(ns): 0.36) content. Only sucrose content had a low narrow-sense heritability (h2(ns): 0.11 ). There were few genetic and environmental correlations. Consequences for breeding, in relation to coffee drinking quality, are discussed.