Search

Mature fruit of 295 accessions of Capsicum baccatum from the USDA/ARS Capsicunt germplasm collection were characterized for fruit length, width, weight, and color. Mean fruit weight was determined to be 5.91 g with a range of 0.15 to 22.8 g. Mean fruit length was 6.01 cm with a range of 0.8 to 16.0 cm. Mean fruit width was 1.86 cm and a range of 0.5 to 4.75 cm. Distributions of all characteristics were positively skewed and failed the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality. The distribution of fruit weight values was the most highly skewed, possibly reflecting a more intense human selection pressure for this characteristic. Distributions of fruit width, length, weight, and length:width were leptokurtic (long-tailed). Ninety-three percent of accessions were elongate. Mature fruit colors included red (73.6%), orange (19.7%), yellow (3%), green (0.3%), and mixed (3%). These data suggest that variability for mature fruit characteristics within this germplasm collection is considerable and that variability for fruit length, width, weight, and color is sufficient to provide the basis for the improvement of the aji crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate fruits of C. chinense accessions for their concentration of beta -carotene, ascorbic acid, and phenols for use as parents in breeding for these phytochemicals. Mature fruits of 63 accessions of C. chinense originally acquired from Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and the United States were analyzed for their chemical composition. Fruits of C. chinense accessions PI-152452 (Brazil) and PI-360726 (Ecuador) contained the greatest concentrations of ascorbic acid (1.2 and 1.1 mg g(-1) fresh fruit, respectively), while PI-438648 (Mexico) contained the greatest concentration of total phenols content (349 micro g g(-1) fresh fruit) among the other 63 accessions tested. Accession PI-355817 from Ecuador contained the greatest concentrations of beta -carotene (8 mg g(-1)fresh fruit). These accessions were identified as potential candidates for mass production of antioxidants with health-promoting properties.