Pre-breeding of a Capsicum annuum accession with ornamental potential

Pré-melhoramento de um acesso de Capsicum annuum para uso ornamental

Capsicum annuum is a domesticated pepper species that exhibits a wide range of fruit size, color, and shape, as well as plant characteristics important for ornamental pepper cultivars, including plant architecture and leaf size and color. This variability can be found in Capsicum accessions from germplasm banks and used in breeding programs to develop new ornamental pepper cultivars. The objective of this study was to develop the ornamental characterization and pre-breeding of a segregating Capsicum annuum accession from the Active Germplasm Bank of Capsicum of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Temperate Climate). Sixty-seven F₁-generation and sixty-two F₂-generation plants were characterized based on 16 morphological descriptors: stem color, nodal anthocyanin, plant growth habit, branching density, leaf density, leaf color, number of leaves per axil, flower position, corolla color, calix pigment, immature fruit color, fruit position, mature fruit color, fruit shape, fruit apex shape, and fruit brightness. The relative contribution of each trait to the genetic divergence was determined using the method proposed by Singh (1981). A principal component analysis was carried out. Almost all evaluated variables showed segregation, except for flower position and immature fruit color. Genetic variability was found in both F₁ and F₂ generations, indicating their potential for developing ornamental Capsicum annuum varieties.

Keywords:
Genetic resources; Morphological characterization; Genetic variability; Peppers