The influence of genotype and season on the biological potential of chilli pepper cultivars

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the yield parameters (number of fruits per plant, total yield per plant and average fruit weight), level of ascorbic acid, and pungency (SHU units) of different genotypes of chilli pepper in protected cultivation in the Czech Republic in order to identify a suitable and prospective chilli cultivar which could be recommended to the Central European growers. The experiment took place in two years (2016 and 2018) in a plastic greenhouse with 17 genotypes of the species Capsicum chinense Jacq., C. annuum L., C. baccatum L. and C. pubescens Ruiz. & Pav. From the viewpoint of yield parameters and stability of yield, ‘Habanero Red’, ‘Jamaican Yellow’, ‘Jwala’ and ‘Rocoto Orange’ can be recommended for Czech conditions. The majority of the tested cultivars were a good source of vitamin C (mostly reaching a value of at least 800 mg kg−1). From the perspective of pungency, the following cultivars can be recommended: low pungency – Fish, Jalapeño, Jwala, Pimiento de Padrón and Rocoto Orange; medium pungency – Cayenne Gold, NuMex Piñata and Scotch Bonnet Orange; and high pungency – Aji Lemon Drop, Cayenne Purple, TMSR and Tricolor Variegata.

Screening of Chilli Pepper Genotypes as a Source of Capsaicinoids and Antioxidants under Conditions of Simulated Drought Stress

“…In the present study, the lowest amount of ascorbic acid was detected in 'Aji Lemon Drop' and the highest in 'Jolokia' fruits. Kopta et al [30] stated that 'Aji Lemon Drop' reached the amount of around 600 mg AsA per 1000 g −1 of fruit fresh weight, which is consistent with our results. 'Jolokia' was mentioned in the research of Kantar et al [25], who reported the AsA amount of 383 mg 1000 g −1 of FW, and this range is considerably narrower than our findings.…”

Antioxidant Profile of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Fruits Containing Diverse Levels of Capsaicinoids

“…As an appraisal of the potential roles attributed to ascorbate in pepper fruits, it was proposed that in the sweet varieties, ascorbate functions as a redox buffer to balance the great metabolic changes which undergo during ripening [5,7]. Regarding the hottest varieties (Padrón and Alegría), the pattern observed in this work, where ascorbate levels increased in those fruits, was also reported earlier for diverse hot pepper varieties [14,18,49,90]. Perhaps, the redox stabilizing role of ascorbate indicated above for sweet pepper could be also applicable to hot varieties to assure the capsaicinoids level.…”

“…In pepper fruits containing these alkaloids, this feature is quite interesting since these horticultural products are one of those with the highest ascorbate levels [5], with ascorbate being perhaps the most paradigmatic molecular antioxidant for living beings. In fact, ascorbate is one of the parameters which is commonly determined in (sweet and hot) pepper fruit research including either ripening and post-harvest, any type of stress (biotic, abiotic and environmental) or culture practices [4,5,7,11,14,18,45,47,49,75,84,90]. As an appraisal of the potential roles attributed to ascorbate in pepper fruits, it was proposed that in the sweet varieties, ascorbate functions as a redox buffer to balance the great metabolic changes which undergo during ripening [5,7].…”

Antioxidant Profile of Pepper (<em>Capsicum annuum</em> L.) Fruits Containing Diverse Levels of Capsaicinoids

“…As an appraisal of the potential roles attributed to ascorbate in pepper fruits, it was proposed that in the sweet varieties, ascorbate functions as a redox buffer to balance the great metabolic changes which undergo during ripening [5,7]. Regarding the hot varieties (Padrón and Alegría), the pattern observed in this work where ascorbate levels increased in those fruits was also reported earlier for diverse hot pepper varieties [14,18,50,91]. Perhaps, the redox stabilizing role of ascorbate indicated above for sweet pepper could be also applicable to hot varieties to assure the capsaicinoids level.…”

“…In pepper fruits containing these alkaloids this feature is quite interesting since these horticultural products are one of those with the highest ascorbate levels [5], with ascorbate being perhaps the most paradigmatic molecular antioxidant for living beings. In fact, ascorbate is one of the parameters which is commonly determined in (sweet and hot) pepper fruit research either considering ripening and post-harvest, any type of stress (biotic, abiotic and environmental), or culture practices [4,5,7,11,14,18,46,48,50,76,85,91]. As an appraisal of the potential roles attributed to ascorbate in pepper fruits, it was proposed that in the sweet varieties, ascorbate functions as a redox buffer to balance the great metabolic changes which undergo during ripening [5,7].…”