Abstract
Variations in the fruit morphological features of Capsicum annuum varieties were studied. Varieties studied include var. abbreviatum, var. annuum, var. accuminatum, var. grossum, and var. glabriusculum. The fruit morphology revealed attenuated fruit shape with rounded surfaces in var. glabriusculum, and cordate fruit shape with flexuous surface in var. annuum, abbreviatum and accuminatum. The fruit is a berry and may be green, yellow, or red when ripe. The fruit epidermal cell-wall patterns are polygonal in shape with straight and curved anticlinal walls in all the five varieties. The fruit of var. abbreviatum and var. grossum is trilocular, while that of var. accuminatum and annuum is bilocular, and that of var. glabriusculum is tetralocular. Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum had the highest mean number of seeds (108.4) and var. annuum had the lowest number of seeds (41.3) per fruit. The fruit is conspicuously hollowed in var. glabriusculum, accuminatum, and annuum but inconspicuously hollowed in var. abbreviatum and var. grossum. These features are shown to be good taxonomic characters for delimiting the five varieties of Capsicum annuum.
Highlights
Capsicum annuum L. is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum in the family Solanaceae [1], native to southern North America and northern South America [2,3,4]
Capsicum annuum can be difficult to separate from the cultivated C. chinense and C. frutescens and their morphological features can overlap
The varieties and cultivars of Capsicum annuum are classified on the basis of their fruit shapes
Summary
Capsicum annuum L. is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicum in the family Solanaceae [1], native to southern North America and northern South America [2,3,4]. The varieties and cultivars of Capsicum annuum are classified on the basis of their fruit shapes. The genus Capsicum (sweet and hot pepper) shows intra- and inter-specific diversity in fruit type, colour, shape, taste, and biochemical content [12]. The species encompass a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, both mild and hot, ranging from bell peppers to chili peppers [6].
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