Selection for Leaf and Plant Size and Longevity of Ornamental Peppers (Capsicum spp.) Grown under Greenhouse Condition E.R. do Rêgo1,a, M.M. do Rêgo2,b, D.F. da Silva3, R.M.C. dos Santos3, M.J.L.C. Sapucay3, D.R. da Silva3 and S.J. da Silva Júnior3 1 Departamento de Ciências Fundamentais e Sociais, Centro de Ciências Agrárias; Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Campus II, Areia-PB, CEP: 58.397.000, Brazil 2 Departamento de Fitotecnia, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Campus II, Areia-PB, CEP: 58.397.000, Brazil 3 Student of CCA/UFPB, Brazil Keywords: pot life, growth habit, ornamental potential Abstract The aim of this work was to evaluate 23 varieties of Capsicum from characters related to plant port, such as growth habit, to select for ornamental potential shelf life. The experimental design was a completely randomized with three replicates. The characteristics evaluated were: plant height, canopy size, and leaf width and length. The selected accessions were submitted a simulated transport conditions for 48 h and transferred to a room temperature to evaluate their pot life. After this, they were evaluated daily for senescence and abscission of flowers, leaves, and fruits. All characters showed significant differences by F test. The variety that presented smallest plant height, leaf length, leaf diameter, and canopy width, that could be better adapted to grow in pot, were ‘AC196’, ‘AC 137’, ‘AC 146’, ‘AC144’, ‘AC 134’, and ‘AC 01’. The shelf life results showed that the ‘AC 134’ variety was the first one to be discarded 12 days after the beginning of the experiment with the least longevity. The ‘AC196’ and ‘AC01’ varieties were more resistant and survived by 31 and 29 days respectively. The ‘AC144’ and ‘AC146’ varieties survived for 36 days at room temperature. INTRODUCTION The chilli pepper is the fruit from the genus Capsicum, which are Solanaceae members (Casali and Couto, 1984). Chili and their various cultivars originate in the Americas and are grown around the world because they are widely used as spices or vegetables in cuisine, and as medicine. An ornamental pepper is a pepper plant which is grown for its aesthetic value. Many peppers are quite compact and attractive, making them very suitable for decorative uses. These peppers vary widely in color and growth habit. Ornamental peppers reach 25 to 50 centimeters in height and are grown as annuals or potted plants for interior decor, producing colorful fruits (Pickersgill, 1971; Bosland, 1993). Some works are done with growth regulators to decreased pepper height (Grassi et al., 2005; Morales-Payan, 2006) despite the considerable diversity existent in Capsicum germplasm for fruit and leaf shape and size, as well as plant habit (Stommel and Bosland, 2006). Ornamental peppers as potted plants are popular in Europe and are gaining in popularity in the United States and other countries (Bosland et al., 1994). The aim of this work was to evaluate 23 varieties of Capsicum from characters related to ornamental potential. They were evaluated for shelf life as well. MATERIAL AND METHODS All the experiments under this study were conducted at Horticulture experimental greenhouse of Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Areia, Brazil. Seeds of 23 varieties of Capsicum annuum, C. baccatum, C. frutescens, and C. a
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Proc. VIth IS on In Vitro Cult. and Hort. Breed. Eds.: R.J. Geijskes et al. Acta Hort. 829, ISHS 2009
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chinense belong to Germplasm Bank of Universidade Federal da Paraíba were evaluated for transport-related plant traits: plant hight, canopy size, leaf length, and leaf width (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute – IPGRI, 1995). The derived seeds were sown and transplanted to plastic pots with 700 ml of Plant Max substract. The experiment was conducted using a design with 23 treatments in a completely random with three replicates. Each replicate was a ten plant mean. The data were subjected to analysis of variance and the means were grouped by Scott-Knott criteria (P=0.01). The plants with ornamental potential were selected and submitted to simulated transport conditions for 48 hours in a locked room without light incidence. After this, they were transferred to a room with 12 hours of light and at room temperature. They were evaluated daily for longevity and were analyzed for flower, fruit, and leaf firmness, chlorosis, and abscission based on a descriptive scale: 0- excellent turgidity and leaves and fruits firm, fruits and leaves with brilliant color; 1- good turgidity of fruit and leaves firm, good fruit coloration; 2- good fruit turgidity, leaves and fruits chlorosis; 3- chlorosis and abscission of fruits and leaves. The scale 3 represents the end of plant longevity with plants loosing their commercial value. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION All characters showed significant differences by F test (α=0,05), except minor canopy width and minor leaf width. The dwarf and tallest acessions were ‘AC136’, ‘AC146’, ‘AC137’, ‘AC14’, ‘AC150’, ‘AC58’, ‘AC149’, ‘AC4’, and ‘AC07’, ‘AC09’, ‘AC06’, ‘AC02’ respectively (Table 1). The varieties that showed minor values of canopy width were the same with minor values of plant height (Table 1). According to Taychasinpitak and Taywiya (2003), plants with compact canopy are desirable to potted plant. This data showed the morphological diversity present in peppers varieties. According to Stommel and Bosland (2006), these traits, together with diverse ripe fruit color and varying hues of green to purple foliar pigmentation, afford a myriad of opportunities to develop unique ornamental cultivars. Beside this, no growth regulators are required like in other ornamental peppers varieties (Grassi et al., 2005; Morales-Payan, 2006). The acessions ‘AC137’, ‘AC01’, and ‘AC58’ showed minor values of major leaf width, and ‘AC137’, ‘AC134’, ‘AC58’, ‘AC136’, ‘AC149’, ‘AC150’, ‘AC146’, ‘AC01’, ‘AC144’, and ‘AC14’ showed minor values of minor leaf length without peciole, with no significant differences by Scott-Knott test. The acessions with broad leaf width and shorter leaf were ‘AC01’, ‘AC134’, and ‘AC137’ (Table 1). This work showed the plants with minor values of leaf measurements were the same with desirable height and canopy (Table 1). Based on this, ‘AC134’, ‘AC196’, ‘AC01’, ‘AC137’, ‘AC144’, and ‘AC 146’ were selected and were evaluated for shelf life. ‘AC134’ showed reduced pot longevity and was discarded after 12 days of experiment. The accessions ‘AC196’ and ‘AC01’ were discarded after 31 and 29 days of experiment respectively. Acessions ‘AC137’, ‘AC144’, and ‘AC146’ had a longer shelf life with more resistence to fruit and leaf chlorosis and abcission. They survived for at least 36 days. These last ones are indicated to be commercialized once they mantained their color and quantity foliage importat traits for foliage quality and overall general appearance of ornamental pepper (Harkness and Sloan, 2002). CONCLUSIONS The evaluation of Capsicum accessions for potential ornamental use identified a number of varieties which had desirable traits as an ornamental plant. These plants may have potential for commercial release or have additional value as parents in future breeding programs.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research presents in this paper was sponsored by research grants from CNPq. Literature Cited Bosland, P.W. 1993. Breeding for quality in Capsicum. Capsicum and Eggplant Newsletter 12:25-31. Bosland, P.W., Iglesias, J. and Gonzalez, M.M. 1994. ‘NuMex Centennial’ and ‘NuMex Twilight’ ornamental chiles. Hort Science. 29(9):1090. Buso, G.S.C., Amaral, Z.P.S., Machado, F.R.B., Bem, L., Ferreira, M.E. 2003. Variedade Genética e Análise Filogenética de Espécies Brasileiras de Pimenta e Pimentão (Capsicum spp). 2° Congresso Brasileiro de Melhoramento de Plantas 2003, Centro de Convenções do Descobrimento. Porto Seguro-BA. Casali, V.W.D., Couto, F.A.A. 1984. Origem e botânica de Capsicum. Informe Agropecuário da Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária de Minas Gerais - EPAMIG, Belo Horizonte 113:8-10. Grossi, S., Moraes, J.A., de Moraes, P.J., de Araújo Tinoco, S., Barbosa, J.G., Finger, F.L. and Cecon, P.R. 2005. Effects of paclobutrazol on growth and fruiting of Pitanga ornamental peppe. Acta Hort. 683:333-336. Harkness, S.S. and Sloan, R.C. 2002. Ornamental Pepper Cultivar Landscape Evaluation. Annual Report of the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Miss, Agric. & For. Expt. Sta. Info Bull. 386:358-359. International Plant Genetic Resources Institute. IPGRI. 1995. Descriptors for Capsicum. Rome, IBPGR p. 49. Morales-Payan, J.P. 2006. Exogenous aminolevulinic Acid effects on ornamental peppers. PGRSA 2006 Annual Meeting, July 8-12, Quebec City, Canada. Nuez, F., Gil Orteg, R., Costa, J. 1996. In: El Cultivo de Pimentos, Chiles y Ajies. Ediciones Mundi-Prensa. Pickergill, B. 1971. Relationships between weedy and cultivated forms in some species of chili peppers (Genus Capsicum). Evolution 25:683-691. Poulos, J.M. 1994. Pepper Breeding (Capsicum spp.): achievements, challenges and possibilities. Plant Breeding Abstracts 64(2):144-155. Reifschneider, F.J.B. 2000. Capsicum: pimentas e pimentões no Brasil. EMBRAPAHortaliças, Brasília. p. 113. Rêgo, E.R.; Finger, F.L., Cruz, C.D. and Rêgo, M.M. 2006. Caracterização, diversidade e estimação de parâmetros genéticos em pimenteiras (Capsicum spp.). Anais do II Encontro Nacional do Agronegócio Pimentas (Capsicum spp.). Stommel, J.R. and Bosland, P. 2006. Ornamental pepper: Capsicum annuum. p. 822. In: N.O. Anderson (ed.), Flower Breeding and Genetics: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century. Taychasinptak, T. and Taywia, P. 2003. Specific Combining Ability of Ornamental Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.). Nat. Sci. 37:123-128.
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Tables Table 1. Means for seven characters of leaf and plant size traits in peppers (Capsicum spp.). Acession Plant height (cm) 04 13 150 136 137 144 01 14 06 07 196 183 10 146 149 134 58 12 15 09 201 200 02
27,00 d 39,66 c 21,96 d 15,00 d 17,00 d 46,33 b 37,00 c 17,66 d 60,66 a 74,06 a 40,83 c 44,56 b 37,30 c 15,50 d 24,80 d 29,90 c 23,23 d 48,00b 32,00 c 69,33 a 54,60 b 34,50 c 58,76 a
Major canopy width (cm)
Minor canopy width (cm)
22,66 b 32,66 a 17,03 b 19,00 b 16,16 b 31,66 a 22,16 b 20,00 b 27,00 a 25,73 a 23,26 b 30,13 a 27,56 a 19,16 b 19,33 b 20,43 b 15,80 b 26,36 a 25,00 a 23,33 b 21,73 b 22,70 a 23,90 b
21,13 a 31,33 a 12,66 a 18,00 a 14,50 a 26,33 a 19,00 a 17,66 a 23,66 a 23,50 a 21,13 a 25,23 a 20,20 a 16,33 a 16,66 a 19,23 a 10,86 a 23,16 a 23,66 a 19,00 a 19,90 a 23,13 a 21,23 a
Leaf lenght with peciole (cm) 12,86 b 18,60 a 9,01 c 8,93 c 4,83 d 12,73 b 6,43 d 12,16 b 14,70 b 18,16 a 12,86 b 13,26 b 14,00 b 9,88 c 9,64 c 6,59 d 7,94 c 14,58 b 13,97 b 18,96 a 12,29 b 13,38 b 12,88 b
Leaf lenght with outpeciole (cm)
Major leaf width (cm)
Minor leaf width (cm)
10,33 b 14,33 a 6,68 c 6,36 c 2,56 c 8,36 c 8,30 c 8,66 c 11,50 b 14,23 a 9,33 b 9,56 b 9,73 b 7,50 c 6,56 c 4,78 c 5,57 c 10,16 b 10,66 b 14,50 a 10,01 b 10,32 b 10,19 b
5,56 b 8,33 a 4,30 c 3,23 c 1,50 d 5,93 b 2,36 d 6,30 b 5,96 b 7,56 a 5,00 b 4,60 b 5,76 b 5,18 b 4,23 c 2,03 d 3,68 c 5,67 b 5,56 b 7,90 a 5,35 b 5,74 b 5,42 b
0,29 a 0,26 a 0,18 a 0,20 a 0,17 a 0,29 a 0,23 a 0,24 a 0,20 a 0,32 a 0,17 a 0,52 a 0,18 a 0,28 a 0,20 a 0,17 a 0,20 a 0,24 a 0,36 a 0,26 a 0,25 a 0,35 a 0,29 a
Means followed by the same letter, at colunm, belong to the same group by Scott-Knott criteria (α=0,05) .
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