Abstract
Chilli pepper is a vegetable crop widely consumed mostly as fresh food or dried as a spice. The nutritional contribution due to the presence of beneficial healthy-related compounds and the versatility of uses have increased its cultivation over the last decade. In Southern European countries chilli production uses established cultivars and/or landraces that are well adapted to specific environments but do not often meet the requirements of the industry, particularly for packaging and processing. In this study, 10 commercial hybrids were evaluated in two diverse environment sites for their productivity and the content of phytochemicals including, carotenoids, capsaicinoids, ascorbic acid and tocopherols. Fruits were assessed using automated tools for the analysis of size, shape and colour parameters. The pepper materials were promising in terms of productivity, whereas a lower level of capsaicinoids and ascorbic acid were detected. Genotype by environment analysis indicated minimal environmental influence on yield, fruit shape, and capsaicinoids. The integration of different sources of phenomics data demonstrates how breeding activities of hybrids have focused on yield and morphology rather than quality linked to phytochemicals content.
Highlights
Chilli pepper is among the most fascinating and consumed spice foods, largely appreciated for its high nutritional and health contribution to human diets
Chilli pepper cultivars are highly variable regarding morphological characteristics and levels of bioactive compounds, especially capsaicinoids which contribute to their typical flavour and pungent taste that are unique of this species
This research aims to broaden the information on these types of varieties, in order to: (a) understand the characteristics on which selection has been mostly focused, (b) determine whether improved cultivars are more stable than the landraces by estimating the G × E effect, (c) investigate the possible existing gap between the performance of improved and unimproved cultivars, and d) define further objectives to be pursued in chilli breeding
Summary
Chilli pepper is among the most fascinating and consumed spice foods, largely appreciated for its high nutritional and health contribution to human diets. Chilli pepper cultivars are highly variable regarding morphological characteristics and levels of bioactive compounds, especially capsaicinoids which contribute to their typical flavour and pungent taste that are unique of this species These characteristics make chilli fruits a multidisciplinary item, as food in fresh, dried or in paste form (e.g., sauce, cream) or for industrial use, such as colouring additive or agent for cosmetics [2]. The broad diversity of chilli pepper includes both cultivated (Capsicum annuum) and other domesticated species, that includes accessions such as the habanero (C. chinense), tabasco (C. frutescens), rocoto (C. pubescens) and aji types (C. baccatum). Most of these are widely grown in the Caribbean, South America, and various Asian areas, where a combination of culinary and cultural factors has favoured consumption of very spicy types [3]. Considering the increasing trend of spicy foods, it is necessary to develop and cultivate new cultivars suitable to meet both producers and consumer expected needs [4]
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