Bell Pepper Fruit Research Articles

USE OF CHITOSAN AND ESSENTIAL OILS TO CONTROL BIOTIC AND NONBIOTIC AGENTS OF BELL PEPPER FRUITS

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruits are appreciated in the food industry for its high content of bioactive molecules. However, vegetable fruits are a highly perishable food and might be attacked by phytopathogenic origin, which decreases its quality. The application of edible coatings by chitosan and essential oils [(Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Cymbopogon citratus L.] have been considered an innovative strategy to reduce postharvest losses and tended shelf life of pepper. This study carried out through 2018 and 2019 summer seasons to describe the effect of different concentrations of chitosan, citronella essential oil and rosemary essential oil on the bell pepper at refrigeration conditions (8 ± 1 °C), physicochemical characterizes and micro biotical properties were evaluated after 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days of storage and shilf life periods. Generally, no decay was noticed and good general appearance of pepper fruits treated with 1.0% cetronella essential oil after 28 days of cold storage in both seasons. The results showed that the treated fruits have higher acceptance and quality than the control, being more effective with cetronella essential oil compared to chitosan and rosemary essential oil. It is noticeable that chitosan and cetronella essential oil resulted in an increase in the shelf-life of bell pepper up to 28 days. Furthermore, all dipping treatments under current study increased fruit firmness, total chlorophyll content, Vit. C and TSS characteristics than the control. In addition, treated bell pepper fruits by chitosan or essential oils delayed the loss of physicochemical and fungal growth, due to protection against the microbial development of aerobic mesophylls, molds, and yeasts.

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plant growth and fruit yield as affected by colored shade nets

Bell pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) plant growth and fruit yield as affected by colored shade nets

Light-Controlled Fruit Pigmentation and Flavor Volatiles in Tomato and Bell Pepper.

Light is a major environmental factor affecting the regulation of secondary metabolites, such as pigments and flavor. The Solanaceae plant family has diverse patterns of fruit metabolisms that serve as suitable models to understand the molecular basis of its regulation across species. To investigate light-dependent regulation for fruit pigmentation and volatile flavors, major fruit pigments, their biosynthetic gene expression, and volatiles were analyzed in covered fruits of tomato and bell pepper. Immature covered fruits were found to be ivory in color and no chlorophyll was detected in both plants. The total carotenoid content was found to be reduced in ripe tomato and bell pepper under cover. Naringenin chalcone decreased more than 7-fold in ripe tomato and total flavonoids decreased about 10-fold in immature and ripe pepper fruit under light deficiency. Light positively impacts fruit pigmentation in tomato and bell pepper by regulating gene expression in carotenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis, especially phytoene synthase and chalcone synthase, respectively. Nineteen volatile flavors were detected, and seven of these exhibited light-dependent regulations for both ripe tomato and pepper. This study will help in improving fruit quality and aid future research works to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating the influence of light-dependency on pigments and flavor volatiles.

Characterization of bacterial pathogens causing fruit soft rot and stem blight of bell pepper in Georgia, USA

Bacterial soft rot is one of the major destructive diseases affecting crop production worldwide. In summer 2017, soft rot of fruit and stem blight was observed on bell pepper in commercial fields in south Georgia, USA. Bacteria were isolated from infected fruits and stems, and 5 isolates (MPS05, MPS06, PF01–2, PF04–3 and PF05–3) were characterized in the study. The isolates were identified as Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliense (Pcb) and P. aroidearum (Pa) by morphological characteristics, biochemical and physiological tests, PCR amplification using Pcb-specific primers, and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequences. Pathogenicity tests on bell pepper seedlings indicated that isolates MPS05 (Pcb) and PF05–3 (Pa) were aggressive, causing plant tissue discoloration, lesions on leaves and stems, plant wilt and death. Inoculation of bell pepper fruit with MPS05 and PF05–3 at different concentrations (105, 106, 107 and 108 CFU/ml) resulted in fruit tissue maceration and complete fruit rot. To our knowledge, this study is the first report of disease caused by P. carotovorum subsp. brasiliense on pepper in the United States and the first report of P. aroidearum causing disease on pepper in the world.

Under filed conditions, mycorrhizal inoculum effectiveness depends on plant species and phosphorus nutrition

The cultivation of horticultural crops, such as green peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers is very common in semi-arid Mediterranean climate conditions. Two field experiments were performed to determine the effect of mycorrhizal species, plant species and phosphorus levels on mycorrhizal effectiveness and phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) nutrient uptake. In the first experiment, under field conditions, four plants species were inoculated with five arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) species. In the second field experiment, under the same soil conditions, the same plant species were treated with three levels of phosphorus (P), i.e., control; 50 kg and 100 kg P2O5 ha−1. The most effective mycorrhiza species Claroideoglomus etunicatum selected in the first experiment was used in the second field first experiment. In the first experiment, fruit yield enhancement, yield increase, inoculation effectiveness and nutrient concentration in the plant leaves were analyzed. Under field conditions, plant species growth is strongly dependent on the species of AM fungi. Tomato and green pepper plants were inoculated with Cl. etunicatum, eggplants were inoculated with Funneliformis mosseae and bell peppers were inoculated with Rhizophagus clarus, which are high fruit-yielding plant species. In general, Fu. mosseae and Cl. etunicatum increased the yield of the tomatoes, green peppers and eggplants. It seems mycorrhiza species specific to plant species. In the second experiment, mycorrhizal inoculation with P fertilizer application, in particular a moderate amount of P (50 kg ha−1 P2O5) fertilizer increased the green pepper, bell pepper and tomato fruit yield compared with non-inoculated plants and non-P fertilizer application treatments. Increasing the application of P level reduced the mycorrhizal inoculation effectiveness (MIE). The results indicate that for all four solanaceae family plants 50 kg ha−1 P2O5 is a P level threshold for mycorrhizal development, which enhanced plant growth and addition of fertilizer over 50 kg ha−1 P2O5 reduced MIE. P and Zn uptake were significantly increased with mycorrhizal inoculation. These findings are supported by our hypothesis that mycorrhiza inoculation can reduce mycorrhizal dependent horticultural plants P fertilizer requirement.

Development of a new methodology for the detection of Colletotrichum truncatum and Fusarium sp. in bell pepper seed

This study was carried out towards the development of rapid PCR-based assays for detection and identification of Colletotrichum truncatum, C. gloeosporioides sensu lato and Fusarium sp. infecting green and red bell pepper seeds in Trinidad using DNA templates produced by automated grinding and robotic paramagnetic particle capture. DNA was extracted from freshly collected symptomatic green and red bell pepper seeds using Promega’s Maxwell® 16 robotic system. The PCR assay of 220 seeds harvested from field-infected bell pepper fruit compared different optimization parameters including seeds that were symptomatic and asymptomatic of infection, the relative success of two different DNA polymerase enzymes, genus-specific and species-specific primers that were pre-existing in the literature in addition to primers that were newly designed for this study and duplex PCR for the simultaneous detection of DNA templates belonging to two different fungal species. The findings indicated that seeds carried dual infections of C. truncatum and Fusarium sp. Compared to other primers that were screened, our newly designed primers, ITS219-F/ITS419-R with GoTaq® Green Master Hot Start Taq DNA Polymerase, detected C. truncatum in the highest number of symptomatic seeds of infected green and red bell pepper fruit as well as in asymptomatic seeds of infected red bell pepper fruit. Fusarium sp. was detected only in red bell pepper seeds. Duplex PCR using ITS219-F/ITS419-R and Fa/Ra primers successfully simultaneously detected and identified C. truncatum and Fusarium sp. in symptomatic seeds of infected red bell pepper fruit. None of the seeds were infected with C. gloeosporioides sensu lato which is currently considered to be a minor pathogen in bell pepper in Trinidad. PCR-based detection methods are key tools in the detection and identification of fungal plant pathogens especially where seeds are an important inoculum source. The molecular approach as optimized in this study, is faster, more sensitive and the presence of single or dual fungal infections can be assessed in one assay.

Network analysis of noncoding RNAs in pepper provides insights into fruit ripening control

Pepper is an important vegetable worldwide and is a model plant for nonclimacteric fleshy fruit ripening. Drastic visual changes and internal biochemical alterations are involved in fruit coloration, flavor, texture, aroma, and palatability to animals during the pepper fruit ripening process. To explore the regulation of bell pepper fruit ripening by noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), we examined their expression profiles; 43 microRNAs (miRNAs), 125 circular RNAs (circRNAs), 366 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and 3266 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were differentially expressed (DE) in mature green and red ripe fruit. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that the targets of the DE ncRNAs and DE mRNAs included several kinds of transcription factors (TFs) (ERF, bHLH, WRKY, MYB, NAC, bZIP, and ARF), enzymes involved in cell wall metabolism (beta-galactosidase, beta-glucosidase, beta-amylase, chitinase, pectate lyase (PL), pectinesterase (PE) and polygalacturonase (PG)), enzymes involved in fruit color accumulation (bifunctional 15-cis-phytoene synthase, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase, beta-carotene hydroxylase and carotene epsilon-monooxygenase), enzymes associated with fruit flavor and aroma (glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase, anthocyanin 5-aromatic acyltransferase, and eugenol synthase 1) and enzymes involved in the production of ethylene (ET) (ACO1/ACO4) as well as other plant hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), auxin (IAA), and gibberellic acid (GA). Based on accumulation profiles, a network of ncRNAs and mRNAs associated with bell pepper fruit ripening was developed that provides a foundation for further developing a more refined understanding of the molecular biology of fruit ripening.

Uptake and distribution of fluopyram and tebuconazole residues in tomato and bell pepper plant tissues.

The present study describes the uptake and distribution of fungicides, fluopyram, and tebuconazole in tomato and bell pepper plant tissues from the soil drench application of their combination product fluopyram17.7% + tebuconazole 17.7%. For extraction and cleanup of fluopyram, its metabolite fluopyram benzamide, and tebuconazole samples, the QuEChERS method was used in conjunction with LC-MS/MS. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method determined were 1.5μgkg-1 and 0.005mgkg-1, respectively, and recoveries of all analytes from sample matrices remained within the acceptable range of 70-120%. Rapid uptake of the fungicides by tomato and bell pepper plants was observed from the first day onwards. In the tomato plant, the major part of the fungicides accumulated in the roots, whereas in bell pepper plant, it accumulated both in the roots and in the leaves. Accumulation of fluopyram and tebuconazole residues was lowest in tomato and bell pepper fruits which were much below their respective maximum residue limits (MRLs). The highest residue concentration of fluopyram and tebuconazole in tomato fruits was 0.060 and 0.009mgkg-1; the corresponding values in bell pepper fruits were 0.080 and 0.013mgkg-1. In field soil, fluopyram residues were 3.18-3.570mgkg-1 initially which dissipated at the half-life of 36days. Tebuconazole concentration was 1.57-1.892mgkg-1 initially, and it dissipated at the half-life of 44.5-49.5days. The major metabolite of fluopyram, fluopyram benzamide, was detected in plant tissues as well as in soil, and remained within 12% of the parent compound. The results of the study indicated that fluopyram and tebuconazole are less likely of entry into food chain through intake of tomato and bell pepper fruits if these crops are grown on soil contaminated with these fungicides.

Compost bacteria provide antifungal activity against grey mold andAlternariarot on bell pepper fruit

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit are susceptible to various molds, including grey mold and Alternaria rot. In this work, antagonistic bacteria isolated from disease-suppressive composts were assessed for their ability to reduce the mycelial growth of Botrytis cinerea Persoon and Alternaria alternata (Fries) Keissler as well as to suppress grey mold and Alternaria rot on bell pepper. Results showed that different bacterial antagonists reduced mycelial growth of B. cinerea and A. alternata by up to 49% and 53%, respectively. The bacteria provided inhibition of grey mold, reducing incidence and severity by as much as 43% and 67%, respectively. The isolates also provided strong inhibitory effects against Alternaria rot, decreasing incidence and severity by as much as 77% and 80%, respectively. Pseudomonas and Arthrobacter spp. were particularly suppressive to Alternaria rot. Results of this study suggest antagonistic bacteria may represent a potential method for controlling fruit rot of bell pepper.

Evaluation of the growth, yield and nutritional quality of pepper fruit with the application of Quitomax®

The consumption of vegetables as a source of vital nutrients is very important for human health. In the present work, the effects of the application of several concentrations of Quitomax® and a control treatment on the growth, yield and nutritional value of bell pepper ( Capsicum annuum L. variety Lical) fruit were evaluated. The treatments consisted of the foliar application of Quitomax® at 200, 300 and 400 mg ha -1 20 days after transplantation. A randomized block design with four replicates per treatment was applied. The number of fruit harvested as well as their length and width, the fresh mass of the fruit, the thicknesses of the mesocarps, the mass of the peduncles with seeds, the yield, the nutritional quality including the soluble solid, vitamin C, carotenoid, and polyphenol content and the antioxidant activity of the fruit were evaluated. Quitomax at a concentration of 300 mg ha -1 produced significantly more pepper fruit with the largest dimensions and highest fruit mass, yield and antioxidant activity than all other treatments. Therefore, Quitomax can be used as a promissory stimulant for bell pepper crops.

Active modified atmosphere packaging of yellow bell pepper for retention of physico-chemical quality attributes.

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of active and passive modified atmosphere packaging on quality and shelf life of yellow bell pepper fruits. Yellow bell pepper fruits were packaged in 150 gauge LDPE packages with oxygen absorbers for active modification and without oxygen absorber for passive modification of headspace and were stored at different temperatures i.e. 5, 10 and 15°C and RH of 85 ± 5%. Headspace gas concentration within the packages was monitored regularly. The quality of packaged fruits was studied in terms of physiological loss in weight, firmness, total colour difference antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. The actively modified packages attained steady state levels of 4.8% O2 and 7.1% CO2 on 4th day of storage as compared to passively modified packages in which steady state was not attained even at end of storage period of 12days. The retention of quality attributes was observed to be higher in active packages than in passive packages. Moreover, the shelf life of actively packaged fruits was enhanced to 28days as compared to 12days for passively packaged fruits. The in-pack atmosphere attained in active packages hence proved beneficial in retarding the senescence thereby extending the shelf life.

Colletotrichum brevisporum is associated with anthracnose of red bell pepper fruit in Trinidad

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) production in Trinidad is year-round and covers approximately 116 acres with an estimated annual yield of 1,600 tonnes. Colletotrichum truncatum is the predominant fungal pathogen causing anthracnose of pepper…

First Report of Fruit Rot of Bell Pepper Caused by Fusarium incarnatum in Pakistan

Evidence of fruit rot disease was observed in 12 bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fields located in the Chakwal district (32°56′00″N, 72°51′30″E) of Pakistan during the period June 2016 to 2017. Disease incidence was estimated to be between 15 and 24%. Yield loss in affected fields was estimated as 11%. Symptoms of disease were seen as water-soaked, discolored necrotic lesions predominantly around the calyx. There were also symptoms of internal rot as seeds and the inner fruit surface were covered with white to light gray fungal growth. In the case of severe disease symptoms, fungal growth was also observed externally at the calyx end. The disease progressed as a soft decay with leakage. Diseased fruits were cut into 5-mm² pieces, surface disinfested with 1% NaOCl for 2 min, rinsed thrice with sterile distilled water, and incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25 ± 2°C for 3 to 4 days under continuous fluorescent light. Eighteen isolates of similar morphology were purified using the hyphal tip technique. Colonies were fast growing, fluffy, white with pale cream to beige coloration on the reverse side of the Petri dish. Microconidia were hyaline, single celled to one septate, and 3.5 to 5.0 × 2.7 to 4.0 μm (mean = 4.0 × 3.8 μm). Mesoconidia were fusoid, usually three septate, and 9.8 to 17.5 × 3.0 to 4.5 μm (mean = 13.4 × 4.0 μm). Macroconidia were three to five septate, cylindrical, slightly curved, tapered at the apex, and 26.2 to 37.4 × 3.5 to 4.8 μm (mean = 32.5 × 4.2 μm). Based on morphological characteristics, the fungus was tentatively identified as Fusarium incarnatum (Leslie and Summerell 2006). DNA from two representative isolates, FICW7 and FICW16, was amplified with translation elongation factor (EF1-α) and β-tubulin genes using primers EF1/EF2 (O’Donnell et al. 1998) and Bt1a/Bt1b (Glass and Donaldson 1995), respectively. The obtained sequences for EF1-α (accession nos. MF977815 and MG770586) and β-tubulin (MF977818 and MG770587) were deposited in GenBank. The MegaBLAST and Fusarium ID database analysis revealed 99 to 100% homology to the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex, GenBank accession no. JF270273 (EF1-α), and AB587036 (β-tubulin) respectively. Pathogenicity tests of six isolates were conducted on three healthy bell pepper fruits per isolate, wound inoculated with a 20-μl drop of 10⁶ spores/ml. Three control fruits per isolate were inoculated with 20-μl droplets of sterile distilled water. Inoculated and control fruits were incubated in moist chambers at 25°C. After 3 to 5 days, white fluffy mycelial growth surrounded by water-soaked necrotic lesions appeared identical to the symptomatic fruits observed in the field/tunnel. No symptoms were observed on control fruits. The fungi isolated from the diseased fruits were morphologically similar to the original isolates on PDA. The pathogen was previously reported to cause the internal fruit rot disease of bell pepper in Trinidad (Ramdial et al. 2016). This is the first report of F. incarnatum (Desm.) Sacc. causing fruit rot on bell pepper in Pakistan. New strategies need to be developed for effective management of disease.

Growth and physical characterization of fruits of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cv. ‘All Big’ subjected to saline stress and exogenous application of proline

Growth and physical characterization of fruits of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cv. ‘All Big’ subjected to saline stress and exogenous application of proline

Low temperature conditioning combined with methyl jasmonate can reduce chilling injury in bell pepper

Bell pepper is a highly perishable vegetable and chilling injury is a principal physiological factor that negatively impacts the postharvest quality of peppers during transportation and storage. This study parsed the effects of low temperature conditioning (LTC) combined with methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on chilling injury during the storage of bell pepper fruit. The results showed that treatments of LTC combined with MeJA effectively maintained quality of bell pepper, suppressed the development of chilling injury index, delayed increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) content, inhibited the decline of chlorophyll and Vitamin C content, enhanced the activities and relative gene expressions of Peroxidase (POD), Catalase (CAT) and Ascorbate Peroxidase (APX). The results obtained point to treatments LTC combined with MeJA can be used as a useful technology for enhancing tolerance of postharvest chilling injury in bell pepper fruit.

Performance of off season bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under different growing condition, transplanting dates and pruning level

Bell pepper fruits fetches higher premium during early winter or late winter as off-season crops. An experiment was conducted during late winter (February to June) of 2013 at Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, West Bengal, India to compare the performance of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in open field and agro shade net under different transplanting dates and pruning level which was laid out in split split plot design with 3 replications. The results revealed that agro shade net cultivation of bell pepper emerged as best in terms of highest plant height (52.42 cm), and higher number of fruit (11.18 plant-1). The interaction effect combining shade net cultivation with 1st February planting date coupled with 3 shoot pruning proved superiority with respect to growth and yield characters of bell pepper and resulted in many fold improvement in the form of higher fruit number (16.21 plant-1), individual fruit weight (107.54 g) and maximum fruit yield (1743.21 g plant-1).

SYMPTOMATOLOGY, HOSTS, AND PATHOGENICITY OF Corynespora cassiicola

Many diseases are affecting tomato fruits in the field and greenhouse. The objective of this work was to identify, to verify the symptomatology, pathogenicity and hosts of C. cassiicola causal agent of tomato fruit rot. Symptomatic tomato fruit were isolated in medium agar-water (AW). After 48 hours, the mycelia were replicated on potato-dextrose-agar (PDA) medium. The inoculation was used mycelia discs, for treatments with and without injury, in fruits of tomato, okra, bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini, and noni were present. Both treatments, confirming the aggressiveness and pathogenicity on the original host. Among the other hosts, pathogenicity was confirmed only in okra, bell pepper, and tomato, in treatments with injury only. The comparative analysis, with the descriptions of the species, allowed the identification of the isolate as C. cassiicola, as fungi causal agent of rot fruit by tomato.

Pre-harvest CaCl2 and GA3 treatments improve postharvest quality of green bell peppers (Capsicum annum L.) during storage period

Abstract The present study investigated the effects of CaCl2 (0.5%) and GA₃ (0.05 g L−1) pre-harvest treatments both at two (2T) and three spraying times (3T) on some qualitative characteristics of green bell pepper stored for 0, 10 and 20 d at 1 and 10 °C. The purpose of this study was to mitigate postharvest lesions and increase chilling injury resistance in peppers. Weight loss, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), vitamin C (VitC), phenolics, electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), chilling injury, chlorophyll and calcium contents, peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and antioxidant activities were measured. The highest and lowest weight losses were observed after 20 d at 1 and 10 °C on control and CaCl2 treatments respectively. The highest (30.8 at 1 and 21.4 N at 10 °C) and lowest (23.5 at 1 and 14.2 N at 10 °C) firmness was measured in fruit from the CaCl2 (3T) treatment and control, respectively. The amount of VitC and phenolics were higher in the control compared to all other treatments. After 20 d, the highest amount of MDA and EL, as well as the lowest amounts of calcium were measured in the control, gibberellin and calcium treatments, respectively. Chilling injury increased after 20 d of storage at 1 °C. However, all treatments with no significant difference had less chilling injury and TSS and more antioxidant enzymes (POD and CAT) and chlorophyll than the control. The results reveal that all CaCl2 and GA₃ treatments increased overall quality of pepper at harvest time and preserved the quality and reduced the chilling injury during the storage period. Hence, these treatments can be commercially effective strategy to improve shelf life and maintain the quality of green bell pepper fruit during harvest and postharvest.

Induction of seedless red bell pepper (Capsicum annuumL.) fruit by plant growth regulators

Induction of seedless red bell pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i>L.) fruit by plant growth regulators

Yellow bell pepper fruit response to postharvest application of ultraviolet radiation

Yellow bell pepper fruit response to postharvest application of ultraviolet radiation