The aim of this work was to estimate the general and specific combining ability of peppers by measuring fruit quality and yield traits. This experiment was carried out on the garden field from Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Minas Gerais State-Brazil. Eight lines of Capsicum baccatum belonging to the UFV Horticultural Germplasm Bank were chosen based on their broad genetic and phenotypical background variation and then they were crossed in a complete diallel way. The F 1 seeds of the 56 hybrids and eight parents were planted in the field in a randomized complete block design. The data were submitted to ANOVA and the means were grouped by Scott-Knott test (P B 0.01). Significant variation for fruit quality and yield components was observed among parents and F 1 generation. Analysis of variance for the combining ability showed that GCA effects exhibited significant difference and SCA effects of the crosses were significant, except for the height of first bifurcation. For almost all characters both additive and non-additive effects influenced the performance of hybrids.

The hot peppers belonging to the species C. baccatum are completely restricted to Latin America and comprise the most popular hot pepper consumed as fresh or as processed paprika in Andean countries. The objective of this study was to characterize the phenotypic diversity among 40 landrace accessions of C. baccatum based on morphological fruit quality traits and yield components, and to determine the correlation between these characters and their contribution for the genetic variability. The accessions were analyzed for 14 fruit and plant descriptors. Plants were arranged as randomized complete block with three replicates. Collected data were initially subjected to analysis of variance and if the F-test was significant at P B 0.01, the averages were grouped by Scott-Knott criteria. The heritability in a broad sense and phenotypic correlation were calculated. The phenotypic divergence and relative importance were estimated by multivariate analysis. Significant differences for all traits were observed by F-test (P B 0.01). The range of heritability values were between 83.2 and 99.1. The landraces were grouped in seven different clusters. Major fruit width, fruit weight and fruit dry matter were the only fruit traits with positive correlation with yield. Plant width, height, first bifurcation height and fruit set were positive correlated between them and with yield. Based on the data, the most divergent accessions were 4 and 24, which could result in higher heterotic effect in eventual hybridizations between them. The results of this study showed that spice and vegetable type specific varieties can be developed from C. baccatum.

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Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae), a medicinal plant used worldwide, has antimalarial activity as shown in previous work. This study tested ethanol extracts from wild plants collected in three different regions of Brazil and from plants cultivated in various soil conditions. The extracts were active in mice infected with P. berghei: doses of < or =500 mg/kg administered by oral route reduced malaria parasitaemia and mouse mortality; higher doses were found to be less effective. Tested in vitro against three P. falciparum isolates, two chloroquine resistant and one mefloquine resistant, the plants cultivated under standard conditions, and in humus enriched soil, were active; but the wild plants were the most active. Analysis using thin layer chromatography demonstrated the presence of flavonoids (compounds considered responsible for the antimalarial activity) in all plants tested, even though at different profiles. Because B. pilosa is proven to be active against P. falciparum drug-resistant parasites in vitro, and in rodent malaria in vivo, it is a good candidate for pre-clinical tests as a phytotherapeutic agent or for chemical isolation of the active compounds with the aim of finding new antimalarial drugs.

Resumo Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito residual do composto orgânico sobre o crescimento e a produção da alface. Plantas da cultivar Babá foram adubadas com cinco doses de composto orgânico (0,0, 22,8, 45,6, 68,4 e 91,2 t/ha de matéria seca), na presença e na ausência de adubo mineral (643 kg/ha de 4-14-8 e duas aplicações de 30 kg/ha de N em cobertura). O efeito residual foi avaliado em um segundo cultivo nas mesmas parcelas, sem adição de adubos. Doses crescentes de composto orgânico aumentaram a produção da cultura até 27.367 kg/ha de matéria fresca, obtida na dose mais elevada em plantas cultivadas entre 80 e 110 dias após a aplicação do composto. A aplicação de adubo mineral não apresentou efeito residual. Os efeitos residuais do composto orgânico expressaramse também pelo aumento linear dos teores de bases trocáveis, de P e da capacidade efetiva de troca de cátions, (CTC) do solo, que atingiram valores de 10,77 cmol c /dm 3 , 461 mg/dm 3 e 11,08 cmol c /dm 3 , respectivamente.Termos para indexação: Lactuca sativa, adubação orgânica, adubação mineral, mineralização, efeitos residuais. Residual effect of organic compost on lettuce growth and yieldAbstract This paper aimed to evaluate the residual effect of organic compost fertilization on lettuce growth and yield. Seedlings of Babá lettuce were fertilized with five doses of organic compost (0.0, 22.8, 45.6, 68.4 and 91.2 ton/ha of dry matter), in the presence and in the absence of mineral fertilizer (643 kg/ha of 4-14-8 plus two side dressings of 30 kg/ha of N). The residual effect was evaluated by carrying out a second cultivation on the same plots with no fertilizer addition after the first cultivation. Fertilization with organic compost increased the second cultivation yield up to 27,367 kg/ha of fresh weight at the highest dose, in plants grown between 80 and 110 days after organic compost application. The mineral fertilization showed no residual effect. The residual effect also resulted in increases in soil exchangeable bases, P, and effective soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) reaching values of 10.77 cmol c /dm 3 , 461 mg/dm 3 and 11.08 cmol c /dm 3 , respectively.