Characterization of pepper (Capsicum spp.) germplasms based on morphological and phytochemical characters in Bangladesh

Abstract

Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is a major spice crop around the globe. The major goal of the experiment was to evaluate the genetic diversity amongst 30 pepper germplasms for twelve morphological and phytochemical parameters. The investigation was conducted between November 2019 and April 2020 using a randomized complete block design with three replications in the experimental field of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. The results revealed a notable disparity across the genotypes for all studied traits. The genotype C80 displayed the highest fresh fruit weight (20.60 g) and dry fruit weight (1.20 g). Once again, the genotype YF1 had the highest chlorophyll and vitamin-C contents. The most significant correlations were revealed between fresh fruit weight and dry fruit weight (r = 0.83***) followed by between fruit diameter and dry fruit weight (r = 0.80***), and between fruit diameter and fresh fruit weight (r = 0.79***). The Wards-D method was used to cluster thirty genotypes into four clusters based on Euclidean distances. Cluster IV consisted of a maximum of 13 pepper genotypes. Cluster I yielded the greatest fresh fruit weight, measuring 11.75 g, whereas cluster III contained the highest Vitamin-C content, measuring 23.61 mg/ 100 g. The clusters I and III had the highest inter-cluster distances (6.45), while cluster I had the highest intra-cluster distance (2.36). PC1 and PC2 explained 32.8% and 18.3% of the total variances, respectively. In the biplot, the genotypes C54 and C80 favored fresh and dry fruit weights as well as fruit diameters, while the genotypes C29 and YF1 positively favored chlorophyll and vitamin-C contents. Therefore, the diverse pepper genotypes C54, C80 from cluster I and C29 and YF1 from cluster III could be included in future hybridization of pepper breeding.