Morphological characterization of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Germplasm for the Mining of Breeding Traits

Author: Rahul Sonaniya* and S.K. Singh

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Abstract

An experiment was conducted on 48 chilli genotypes for the mining of diverse morphological breeding traits. A total of 37 morphological traits were considered as per DUS guidelines. All the genotypes were grown in randomized block design in three replications. Maximum variations were reported for fruit shape in longitudinal section followed by plant habit, leaf shape, leaf undulation of margin, fruit glossiness, fruit bearing habit, fruit sinuation of pericarp, fruit texture of surface, fruit color at ripe maturity, fruit shape at the base and fruit shape of apex. Among the different traits assessed, green leaf color, green unripe fruit color, absence of blossom end appendage and light yellow seed color showed 100% frequency for these traits. Higher frequency was also observed for solitary type of fruit bearing habit (95.83%), fruit curvature (97.92%), red color at ripe (95.83%), one color transition (97.92%), enveloping type of calyx cover (91.67%), acute shape at base (97.92%) and apex (89.58%). The distribution frequency of the traits like ovate leaf shape (10.42%) followed by moderately triangular fruit shape in longitudinal section (10.42%), strong fruit sinulation of pericarp (10.42%) respectively were very low. Yellow flower petal color; erect fruit orientation, 2-3 fruit bearing habit, cluster bearing habit, absence of fruit curvature, yellow fruit color, orange fruit color and two stage color transition round fruit shape at base acquires 2.08 % frequency. Genotypes Pusa jwala, MPOJCC 1, MPRJJCC 4, MPJCC 8, MPJKJCC 1, MPJCC 20 found a wide range of variations in qualitative traits. The unique traits reported in very minimal would be considered as important morphological breeding traits for the development of diverse chilli varieties with special identity. These findings will help to identify the genetically pure traits linked with the chilli genotypes during maintenance breeding programme.

Keywords

Chilli Genotypes, Morphological characterization, Plant breeding, Spice, Vegetable, diversity, unique traits.

Conclusion

Based on morphological characterization analysis, all the cultivars were characterized for the identification of unique breeding traits. Overall study revealed that a considerable amount of variation was present among all the genotypes under study. Genotypes Pusa jwala, MPOJCC 1, MPRJJCC 4, MPJCC 8, MPJKJCC 1, MPJCC 20, MPOJCC 2, MPUPJCC 3, MPJCC 23, MPKJCC 1, MPRJJCC 2, MPMGJCC 1, MPJCC 10, MPJCC 4, MPJCC 6, MPJCC 10, MPUPJCC 4, MPRJJCC 5, MPJCC 12, MPJCC 21, MPJCC 18, MPJCC 13, MPJCC 19, MPJCC 17, MPDJCC2, yellow chilli, MPJCC 7, MPUPJCC 1, MPJCC 2, and MPBJCC 2 found a wide range of variations in morphological traits. These were the genotypes that exhibited a wide range of variations and genotypes need further testing and to be released as a substitute of already existing chilli varieties or they can be involved in the further breeding programme for the development of superior varieties or hybrids for yield and quality improvement of chilli.

References

INTRODUCTION Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) makes an appearance as one of the most crucial economical and popular grown vegetable and spice for its green fruits and dry form respectively). Besides, it is used in many processing industries for different products such as pepper sauce, ground pepper and dried pepper, pickled pepper; Peppers play an important role as a spice in many of the world food cuisines (Bosland et al., 2012). It is estimated that 25% of people consuming some form of pepper daily (Smith, 2015). The genus Capsicum consists of about 25 wild and 5 domesticated species, viz., C. annuum L., C. frutescens L., C. chinense Jacq., C. baccatum L. and C. pubescens Ruiz and Pavon (Wang and Bosland 2006). It belongs to family solanaceae and the primary centre of origin for C. annuum is semi-tropical Mexico (Whitmore et al., 2001). It was brought to Europe by Columbus in 1493 as the peppery spice that signified the success of his quest. It was first introduced in India from Brazil by the Portugese towards the end of 15th century and its cultivation became popular in the 17th century. In 2020-21, total area of chilli in India was 7,32,213 ha, with the production of 19,88,304 lakh tons with vast majority of production occurring in Andhra Pradesh (42%) followed by Telengana (20.48%) and then by Madhya Pradesh (14.71%). Total area and production of spices in Madhya Pradesh is 6,99,994 ha and 32,37,655 tons respectively. Chilli covers the area of 1,13,366 ha (16.19%) and production of 2,62,616 lakh tons (8.1%) (Spice board, India 2020). The genus capsicum consists of a diverse range of plants and fruits, and varies enormously with respect to morphology, yield and nutrition related parameters (Srinivas et al., 2021). There are many of the land races/ varieties which are continuously cultivated by the farmers around the country among which majority of the varieties are either local varieties or hybrids. For the genetic improvement of chilli crop, it is mandatory for researchers to first collect, characterize and then identify the important breeding traits so as to utilize it in genetic improvement programme. The first step for the improvement programme is collective and then morphological characterization on the basis of diverse breeding traits in chilli germplasm. Morphological characterization based on qualitative traits of crops is a very important and essential first step in any crop improvement and breeding programme (Joshi et al., 2020). Cultivars can be recognised and differentiated based on relative differences in morphology of different morphological parameters like seed, seedling and plant growth. Morphological characterization of chilli germplasm accessions has been studied for most plant and fruit traits. Evaluation and Characterization of chilli germplasm becomes a necessary step for utilizing the available diversity for improvement of the crop. Many chilli varieties having immense differences for different traits are being cultivated among different parts of country and some of the variations are so localized that their cultivation other than their zone is completely unknown. Due to their localized distribution, some of these promising varieties are yet to be known. So, it becomes a necessary to estimate the performance of local varieties as well as cultivated varieties along with characteristics of chilli recommended for cultivation in different climatic zones for identifying suitable donors having different desirable attributes under the agro-ecological condition of the central region of India. The purpose of this study is to evaluate various chilli genotypes and to characterize them to know their morphological characteristics. The study also aids in differentiating morphological characteristics from each other and to access the variations present in genotypes under inspection with identification of promising genotypes and traits which can be used in further breeding programme. MATERIALS AND METHOD Experimental site. The present investigation was carried out at Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (India) in the two season (Rabi2020-21/ summer and Kharif 2021-22). Jabalpur is situated on the banks of holy Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, with coordinates “23.1815° N, 79.9864° E”, at an elevation of 412 meter above MSL, in the Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh. The climate here is mild, and generally warm and temperate. In winter, there is much more rainfall in Jabalpur than in summer. In Jabalpur, the average annual temperature is 25.5°C | 77.9°F. Precipitation here is about 1208 mm | 47.6 inch per year. Experimental design and plant material used. Forty eight chili genotypes were evaluated in RBD (Randomized block design) with 3 replications during the summer season of 2020-21 from month February to August. Management and cultural practices. The seeds were sown under field conditions in earthen pots in a mixture of soil and vermicompost during end of December month and transplanted during middle February month at a spacing of 60 cm × 45 cm and a plot size of 5m2. The full dose of FYM at 25 tonnes/ha was applied during the last field preparation. The recommended dose of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium @ 120:60:50 kg/hectare was applied in the form of Urea, SSP and MOP respectively. The entire amount of P and K and half dose of N were used before transplanting and mixed completely in the soil. The remaining half dose of N was given 30 and 60 DAT as top dressing. Data collection and analysis. During the field work, various qualitative traits were recorded. Five plants from each treatment were randomly selected and tagged for recording the observations. The data was taken in the form of descriptor codes assigned by PPV and FRA & UPOV for the crop Chilli. Observations were recorded at nursery stage like seedling anthocyanin and other stages of crop growth when the character under study was fully expressed for example traits related to fruit were recorded when plant reached horticultural maturity and fruit reached an optimum length and girth. The final data collected was analyzed by computing the mean value of the data taken from all the five tagged plants by using MS excel. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Morphological characterization Plant growth characteristics. All the data regarding morphological characterization is furnished in Tables 1-3. A significant amount of variation was found among the different chilli cultivars for morphological characters. Plant growth habit was characterized as spreading, semi-upright and upright where semi-upright was found dominant (68.75%) while that of upright (22.92%) and for spreading (8.33%) which indicates a high yield potential in majority of genotypes as upright plant height and medium and strong branching leads to higher yields. Erect types are prime importance as they receive good amount of sunlight which speeds up the assimilate production in the plant. Singh et al. (2020). Coloration of seedling was seen in many cultivars (72.92%) and the Cultivars having anthocyanin coloration of nodes are more in number (87.50%) and were categorized as weak (14.29%), medium (23.81%) and strong (61.90%) Bhattacharya et al. (2010) reported that anthocyanin minimize the proliferation of cancer cells; prevent lipid damage in food and protect against diseases of the heart. Likewise, Rodriguez and Kimura (2004) mentioned that antioxidants can neutralize or reduce the activity of free radicals, associated with cardiovascular diseases. Genotypes with sparse stem pubescence were higher in number (82.05%) while genotypes with intermediate stem pubescence were low in number (17.95%). Majority of the cultivars had AngledStem shape (62.50%) and some with round shape (37.50%). Leaf characteristics. Most of the genotypes have lanceolate leaf shape (83.33%) and ovate leaf shape occurred in some genotypes (10.42%) while some genotypes have broad elliptic (6.25%) leaf shape. In the present investigation dark green leaf color was observed more frequent (50%) while medium green color was observed less frequent (35.42%) and that of light green color was minimum (14.58%). Similar results were reported by Ferdousi et al. (2021) in chilli genotypes. The dark green color of leaves is generally due to presence of high chlorophyll content in the leaves which ultimately leads to increased yield hence; it becomes a good criterion for selection felite cultivars (Pachiyappan and Saravannan 2016). Leaf pubescence was present (60.42%) and characterized as sparse (100%) while in 39.58% leaf pubescence was absent. This is in agreement with the results reported by Smith and Heiser (1951) who mention that for C. frutescens leaf pubescence tends to be scarce. Flower characteristics. Almost all the genotypes having white corolla color (97.92%) except one which was yellow (2.08%). Attractive flower color is a desirable trait as it helps in attracting pollinators during the pollination process. The above agrees with Pickersgill, (1980) who mentions that in capsicum, two groups of flowers are defined: white and purple. In the group of white flowers, there are two subgroups, the one made up of C. baccatum and a second that groups C. annuum, C. chinense, and C. frutescens. The group of purple flowers are the species C. eximium Hunz., C. cardenasii and C. pubescens. On the other hand, Smith and Heiser (1951) reported that in C. frutescens, the flowers are greenish-yellow, and for C. annuum, they are white. There was a wide variation in terms of anther color, genotypes having pale blue (64.58%) and purple (35.41%). Flower position and stigma exertion highly influences the degree and mode of pollination, it was characterized as drooping and semi-drooping which was seen in 77.08% and 20.83% genotypes respectively. Fruit and seed characteristics. Most of the cultivars have solitary fruit bearing habit (95.83%) while 2-3 and cluster type also seen in 2.08% each. All the genotypes were green in color at immature fruit stage with maximum intensity of medium (50%) followed by dark (35.42%) and then light (14.58%) with minimum intensity. Most of the cultivars have red ripe fruit color (95.83%) and in them maximum with medium intensity (66.75%) followed by light intensity (16.67%) and dark intensity (14.58%) were less in number while one cultivar is dark yellow and one is medium orange in color at ripe which is 2.08% each. Drooping fruit position (77.08%) was dominant over semi drooping (20.83%) followed by erect (2.08%), an erect nature allows for maximum and uniform exposure of all leaves and other vegetative parts to better sunlight and would also result in an increase in dry matter production and an increase in yield. Attractive fruit color, lesser fruit pubescence and smooth fruit texture are the factors which determine consumer acceptability of the product and hence, these traits become a good selection criterion for a breeder. Fruit calyx cover was found enveloping in maximum cases (91.67%) and non- enveloping in few cases (8.33%). Base shape was found acute (97.92%) and round (2.08%) while apex shape was found acute (89.58%) and blunt (10.42%). According to Andrews (1995), the accessions belonging to the C. annuum species are characterized by having small, ovoid fruits with two locules, the fruit—a bloated berry—with different colors. All the cultivars were devoid of Blossom end fruit appendages, similar findings were also found by Nsabiyera et al. (2013). Most of the genotypes seen with neck at the base of fruit (68.75%) and some without neck (31.25%). Sinuation of pericarp was weak (77.08%), medium (12.50%) and strong (10.64%). Fruit curvature was present in 97.92% of cultivars and absent in 2.08% cultivars. Curvature intensity was low in many genotypes (82.98%) followed by medium (12.77) and least with high curvature (4.26). In most of the cases fruit shape in longitudinal section was horn shaped (45.83%) followed by narrow triangular (37.50%), moderately triangular (10.42%) and few in the case of trapezoidal (6.25%). Fruit texture is slightly rough in many cases (52.08%) followed by smooth (39.58%) and rough (8.33%) texture. Fruit pedicel attachments were found strong in more cultivars (60.42%) and weak (39.58%) in some cultivars. Medium fruit glossiness were dominant in maximum cultivars (64.58%) followed by strong gloss (25%) and least with weak gloss (10.42%). Fruit transition were one in stage in 97.92% cultivars and two stages in 2.08%. All the cultivars have light yellow colored seeds. Present findings conferthat there is variation in the above- mentioned traits in a considerable amount even within a species for all the traits studied which can be exploited for the further breeding programme. Also, all the characteristics of the genotypes under study were following the characteristics confirmed by PPV and FRA & UPOV.

How to cite this article

E Rahul Sonaniya and S.K. Singh (2022). Morphological characterization of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Germplasm for the Mining of Breeding Traits. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(2a): 120-130.