Pepper have been grown and used in Eritrea for long period of time and is part of the Eritrean food culture. Eritrean pepper germplasm was found to be highly diversified that can serve different uses and purposes. Globally pepper is known for its high nutritional value, health benefits and medicinal properties. It is reach (Rich) in vitamins and minerals, has antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Chili pepper has preventive and therapeutic properties for many ailments such as different types of cancer, rheumatism, stiff joints, bronchitis and chest colds with cough and headache, arthritis, heart arrhythmias and many other ailments. Despite traditional medicine including medicinal plants is widely practiced in Eritrea, there is no evidence that pepper was used as medicinal plant. Thus the purpose of this review was to spotlight on the medicinal uses and health benefits of this well-known and widely consumed plant for encouraging research works to address issues related to safety, efficacy, quality, and development and avoid potential risks, especially those linked to aflatoxin contamination.

Diversity studies are an essential step in plant breeding and understanding the genetic relationships between pepper accessions may provide an effective management tool for their conservation, as well as help inform plant breeding efforts. The objective of the study was to assess the diversity and structure of pepper germplasm grown in Eritrean to help inform improvement programs. Local pepper (Capsicum spp.) germplasm collected from farmers and institutions in Eritrea was assessed using 16 quantitative morphological traits. The evaluation was conducted in two sites using a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The data from the two sites were subjected to Principal Component Analysis, Hierarchal clustering with Euclidean distance and Analysis of variance. Cluster analysis of the combined data grouped the 60 genotypes into five clusters and 10 sub-clusters confirming the diversity of the collection that can be useful for selection and source of desired genes. A selection index was used to identify at least four promising genotypes (HD0134, HD0031 and NRSG21 and NRSAF06) for dry consumption purposes. The results of the current study revealed the relatively high level diversity existed within the evaluated collections and partitioned them into meaningful groups.

Diversity in plant genetic resources provides an opportunity for plant breeders to develop new and improved cultivars with desirable characteristics. The purpose of this study was to assess the diversity of Eritrean pepper germplasm in order to obtain information for improving it. A total of 60 pepper (Capsicum spp.) seed sample collections were obtained from farmers and institutions in Eritrea. The collections were evaluated at two sites located in two different agro-climatic regions of the country. The collections were assessed using 16 quantitative and 23 qualitative descriptors. A Randomized Complete Block Design was used for the evaluation. Quantitative and qualitative data of the two sites were subjected to Principal Component Analysis, Principal Coordinate Analysis, Hierarchal clustering, Analysis of variance and Correlation. The distribution of characters of the different quantitative and qualitative traits and the performance of the collections showed the existece of variable characters distributed among the collections indicating considerable diversity. For quantitative variables, the first three components were able to explain 61%, 58% and 67% of the total variation in Hamelmalo, Asmara and combined data of the two sites respectively. While for the qualitative variables the first three components were able to explain a variation of 58% in Hamelmalo, 49%, in Asmara and 55% combined data of the two sites. Phenological attributes and fruit characteristics were found to contribute more to the variation. The majority of the traits evaluated were significant and the highest Coefficient of Variation was related to fruit characteristics. The results of this study showed that there is sufficient variability within the Eritrean pepper genotypes that could be used in future breeding and crop improvement programs.

Unavailability of clean planting material is a major constraint of potato production in Eritrea. In vitro multiplication is proved to be a reliable solution; however, due to high media cost and initial investment, its use has been limited. The current study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of three starches (corn, potato and barley) of both laboratory and commercial grades as agar substitute, for micropropagation of potato. Single nodes of potato were sub-cultured into a fresh modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with sucrose (3% w/v) and gelled with 50 g/l of six types of starches in addition to 7 g/l of agar as a control. Gelling agents used showed a highly significant difference in all measured parameters. The pH of all starch based media increased by 0.23-1.3 units during the culture time except the control media which decreased by 0.4 units. Similarly EC showed a decreasing trend in all gelling agents. In most of the measured physical parameters such as plant height, root length, fresh weight and dry weight three starch based media namely laboratory grade potato, commercial corn and laboratory corn showed better results compared to the control media. Survival of in vitro plantlets ranged between 85 and 90% after acclimatization. Both laboratory and commercial grade starch based media resulted in cost reduction of 15-22% and 61-66%, respectively. This implies that using both corn and potato starches can be reliable and cost effective gelling agents for micropropagation of potato.

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