Development and morpho-agronomic characterization of Yellow Jalapeño pepper lines

ABSTRACT

The genus Capsicum, of great worldwide importance, is found in tropical as well as in temperate countries. Currently five species are considered domesticated, out of a total of 31, and the others are considered semi-domesticated or wild. In recent years, the market has demanded more peppers and, therefore, the work related to the characterization, breeding and development of new cultivars gained ground in public education and research institutions, as well as in the private sector. This work was developed at Embrapa Vegetables, Brasilia, Brazil and had as objective the development and morpho-agronomic characterization of Yellow Jalapeño pepper lines. This work initiated with the identification of segregating plants in a Red Jalapeno cultivar, commercially available in Brazil, where three plants with yellow fruits were found. The work was developed in two phases: the first phase aimed to obtain homozygous inbred lines through SSD (Single Seed Descent); the second phase characterized the inbred lines obtained by using five morphological Capsicum descriptors proposed by IPGRI (1995) with subsequent qualitative field assessment of the inbreds, with the Scott-Knott test used for statistical analysis. It was possible to conclude that the breeding method used was satisfactory and S₅ inbred lines were obtained in 30 months. Morphological characterization and qualitative evaluation have identified significant differences between inbreds. The promising inbreds identified in this study were CNPH 25.368, CNPH 25.373, CNPH 25.374, CNPH 25.375 and CNPH 25.377.

Keywords:
Capsicum annuum var. annuum; descriptors; genetic improvement; SSD.