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Journal of Stress Physiology & Biochemistry, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2019, pp. 21-36 ISSN 1997-0838 Original Text Copyright © 2019 by Naganirmala and Mallikarjuna
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Comparative Morphological Evaluation of Different Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Varieties of Andhra Pradesh, India for Agronomic Traits
Naganirmala Kumari Bantu and Mallikarjuna Kokkanti*
Department of Botany & Microbiology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur-522510, A.P, India *E-Mail: mattikarjunaanu@gmail.com
In the present study, 20 chilli cultivars were characterized based on morphology as it serves as discrete identification indicator and also propose to evaluate cultivar diversity for yield related parameters. Among the 20 cultivars, different quantitative and qualitative morphological traits like, hypocotyl pubescence, hypocotyl colour, cotyledon leaf shape, cotyledon leaf colour, cotyledon leaf width and cotyledon leaf length were studied. A stem length to first bifurcation ranged from 10.80 cm (LCA-424) to 26.33 cm (LCA-620) among the 20 cultivars, taller and shorter stems, taller, wider plant, longer and wider leaves were noticed. Hence, this character could be used for varietal identification. Fruit, fruit length, fruit width, pedicel length, dry fruit weight, seed weight and seed size might be efficiently used for different the chilli cultivars. Fruit positions were divided into two groups viz., Pendent and Erect. Among them, maximum number of genotypes had pendent fruits while only one by Mycoteja produced erect fruits. The fruit yield varied from 83.95g to 295.10g with a mean of 146.82g. The maximum mean performance was observed for genotype LCA-625 (295.10 g/plant) followed by LCA-620 (249.93 g/plant) and LCA-424 (244.24 g/plant), while the minimum value was observed for LCA-305 (83.95 g/plant) preceded by LCA-960 (92.77 g/plant). The study has spawned some important morphological traits, which can be efficiently employed in differentiating the chilli cultivars for beneficial agronomic traits.
Key words: Morphology, hypocotyl pubescence, pedicel length, dry fruit, genotypes
Received March 22, 2019
Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is one of the most significant crops in India. It belongs to the family Solanaceae and is very important spice and condiment crop used for salad, cooked as vegetable, pickled or processed purpose. In India, Capsicum annuum species is well known and most of the cultivated crop varieties belong to Capsicum annuum. It has a lot of other names such as hot pepper, chilli, chilli or chilli pepper and sometimes just as pepper. The genus, Capsicum includes the peppers and chilies with great nutritional and economic value and is widely grown in the whole world (Garcia-Gaytan et al., 2017).
The Andhra Pradesh state contributes a lion share of the exports from our country. Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam and Kurnool districts contribute approximately 80 per cent of chilli production in this state (Prasad et al., 2013). Although chilli being widely studied crop, systematic studies in varietal characterization is lacking especially for newly developed promising varieties. Thus, characterization of varieties which are of wider acceptance by farming community needs to be studied in order to regulate their genetic purity during their multiplication and seed quality evaluation. Assessing the field level performance and identification of elite cultivars assumes enormous importance in selection and breeding the plant varieties for their stress tolerance and beneficial agronomic characters. Though several varieties have been developed in chillies, but the field level performance for wanted characters were confined to one to two specific varieties. Assessing the field level performance of all known chilli varieties under same experimental condition may lead to the identification of best varieties in terms of morphological characters and yield parameters. Hence, the present work is planned by collecting the 20 known chilli varieties from Horticultural Research Station (HRS), Lam farm, Guntur, to comparatively study the expression of morphological characters or field level performance under similar experimental conditions in A.N.U botanical garden.
The morphological descriptions have traditional importance and have been accepted as a classical taxonomic method for documentation of crop varieties (Oo et al., 2017). Additional keys for identification could
be industrialized on the basis of these morphological characters that could serve as a database for identification of cultivars and genetic purity test. Morphological characters are conventionally used for varietal and diversity identification of all vegetable crops (Patel et al., 2001, Garcia-Gusano et al., 2004).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiment was conducted at Acharya Nagarjuna University campus, Guntur. The site of the experiment is situated on 160 2' North latitude and 800 3' East longitudes at an altitude of 31.5m above mean sea level.
Experimental details
Seed material
Fifteen varieties HRS Lam Farm and remaining five varieties collected from local market in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Identification of key characters of seed, seedlings and plant in chilli cultivars
Seedling Characteristics and Nursery rising
The seedlings for the study were raised by sowing the seeds in nursery beds of 4m x 1m size bringing the soil to a fine tilth. Each bed was mixed with 2kg of Farm Yard Manure (FYM). The beds were leveled and seeds of 20 varieties were sown in lines at 5cm spacing. Mulching was done with dry paddy straw. Nursery beds were frequently watered. The mulch was removed after germination of seeds and beds were kept free from weeds. As a precaution against "damping off" disease of the seedlings, the beds were soaked with copper oxychloride (3g/l) on 12th and 21st day after sowing the nursery and the following observations were recorded when the terminal bud were 1-2 mm in size. Six weeks old, uniform and healthy seedlings from each accession were transplanted in the main experimental plots.
Hypocotyl colour
The hypocotyl colour of the seedlings was recorded using Munsell color chart. Based on the hypocotyl colour, the cultivars were classified as: 1 White, 2 Green, and 3 Purple colour containing cultivars.
Hypocotyl pubescence
The Hypocotyl pubescence of the seedlings were recorded on ten seedlings of each cultivar by using stereo ocular microscope and grouped as follows: 4 Sparse, 5 Intermediate, and 7 Dense.
Cotyledonous leaf color
The cotyledon colour of the seedlings were recorded using Munsell colour chart, when terminal bud was 1-2 mm in size on ten seedlings of each cultivar. Based on cotyledon colour, the cultivars were classified as: light green, green, dark green, light purple, purple, dark purple, variegated, and yellow.
Cotyledonous leaf shape
The cotyledon shapes of the seedlings were observed visually when terminal bud was 1-2 mm in size, on ten seedlings of each cultivar, based on which the cultivars were classified as: Deltoid, Lanceolate, Ovate and Elong-deltoid.
Cotyledonous leaf length [mm]
The average of 10 cotyledon length [mm] of the seedlings were recorded using millimeter scale when terminal bud was 1-2 mm in size on ten seedlings of each cultivar and expressed in millimeter.
Cotyledonous leaf width [mm]
The average of 10 cotyledon width [mm] of the seedlings were recorded using millimeter scale when terminal bud was 1-2 mm in size on ten seedlings of each cultivar and expressed in millimeter. Layout of experiment
The entire germplasm of chilli was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with two replications (Fig 3). Twelve plants of each genotype were transplanted in each replication in one row. Design: Randomized Block Design (RBD), Number of treatments: 20, Replications: 2, Plot size: One row of 4 m length, Spacing: 75 cm x 30 cm, Number plants per row: 12, Date of transplanting: 3rd August, 2016, Season: Kharif, 2016-18, Location: Acharya Nagarjuna University campus, Guntur.
Experimental material
The experimental material consisted of 20 genotypes obtained from germplasm collection of Horticultural Research Station (HRS), Lam farm, Guntur (Table 1).
Cultural practices
Soil
The soils of the farm are deep, black clay loams with a depth of 6-7ft, pH of 8.3, EC of 0.16 m. mhos/cm and have good moisture holding capacity.
Preparation of experimental plot
The experimental fields were brought to fine tilth by ploughing thrice followed by harrowing. Before final harrowing, FYM @ 25 tonnes/ha was applied as basal dose and incorporated in the soil. The used dose of fertilizers @ 200:60:80 kg NPK/ha were in the form of urea, single super phosphate and murate of potash. Entire dose of P was applied as basal while N and K were applied in three equal splits throughout the crop growth.
Transplanting and after care
Six weeks old seedlings were transplanted to the main field after allotting entries randomly in each replication. The field was irrigated and the seedlings were transplanted by maintaining a spacing of 75cm between the rows and 30cm between the plants with in a row. Immediately after transplanting the field was irrigated lightly. The plots were kept free of weeds and irrigated regularly. Need based plant protection measures were taken up to keep the plot free from pests / diseases and raise a healthy crop.
Plant morphological traits
Numerous morphological traits recorded at different plant growth stages are stem characteristics, plant characteristics, leaf characteristics, inflorescence descriptors, quantitative character's, fruit descriptors, fruit position and yield characteristics. Randomly selected plants from each entry were tagged in each replication for recording observations on different characters as described and the mean values were calculated. Statistical analysis
The statistical analysis was carried out for the each observed character under the study using MS-Excel, SPSS 16.0 and SPAR 2.0 packages, respectively. The mean values of data were subjected to analysis of variance as described by Gomez & Gomez (1984).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the current study relating to varietal characterization based on seed, seedling and plant morphology have been shown in this below tables 2-7; figures 1 - 4. Seedling Morphology
The anthocyanin coloration of all seedling morphological characters viz., hypocotyl pubescence, hypocotyl color, cotyledon leaf shape, cotyledon leaf color, cotyledon leaf width and cotyledon leaf length are presented in Table 2 and figures 1 - 3. Hypocotyl color
Hypocotyl color of the plantlets were pragmatic visually on ten plantlets of each cultivar as well as grouped obsessed by three categories viz., light purple, medium purple and dark purple (Table 2 & Figure 1). 16 of the cultivars had medium purple hypocotyls, nine cultivars had dark purple hypocotyl and four cultivars viz., Surya teja, Super-10, L.C.A-625 had light purple hypocotyl.
Hypocotyl pubescence
Hypocotyl pubescence of the seedlings of each cultivar was clustered into three categories viz., sparse, intermediate and dense (Table 2 & Figure 2). Majority of the cultivars had dense pubescence on their hypocotyls, four cultivars viz., Mycoteja, LCA-206, Super-10 and Vajra showed intermediate pubescence while solitary had sparse pubescence on its hypocotyl.
Cotyledon leaf color
The cultivars showed three types of leaf color for the cotyledon, light green, green and dark green (Table 2 & Figure 3). Most of the cultivars had green cotyledon leaf color. G-4, LCA-206, L.C.A-305, L.C.A-353, L.C.A-620, Aparna, Super-10, Vajra, Rabbi, Mycoteja, L.C.A-625 and G-3 showed dark green cotyledon color, while, L.C.A-960, L.C.A-424, L.C.A-436,L.C.A-334 were with light green cotyledon leaf color.
Cotyledon leaf shape
The cotyledon shape of the seedlings were observed visually when terminal bud was 1-2 mm in size, on ten seedlings of each cultivar, based on which the cultivars were classified as: Deltoid, Lanceolate, Ovate, and
Elong-deltoid. All the cultivars displayed lanceolate leaf shape (Table 2). Cotyledon leaf length (mm)
Cotyledon leaf length for the cultivars is presented in Table 3. Significant differences were noticed for cotyledon leaf length among the cultivars. The cultivar Suryateja recorded significantly highest cotyledon length (15.45 mm) which was on par with the cotyledon leaf lengths of cultivars, Aparna, Super-10, Vajra, Rabbi, LCA-206, L.C.A-305, L.C.A-353, L.C.A-620, Mycoteja, L.C.A-625, Suryateja. Significantly lowest cotyledon leaf length was recorded in cultivars G-3, G-5, 999, L.C.A-235. However, there were no significant differences for cotyledon length. Cotyledon leaf width (mm)
Cotyledon width for the cultivars is presented in Table 3; significant differences were noticed for cotyledon width among the cultivars. The cultivar Vajra recorded significantly highest cotyledon width (5 mm) which was on par with the cotyledon widths of cultivars Aparna, Super-10, Vajra, Rabbi, LCA-206, and L.C.A-305. Significantly lowest cotyledon length was recorded in cultivars G-3, G-5, 999, L.C.A-235. However, there were no significant differences for cotyledon width for the cultivars.
Plant morphological traits
The plant morphological traits of the 20 cultivars were recorded at different stages of plant growth period. The data pertaining to these traits are presented in Tables 3 to 7 and Figure 4
Stem length to first bifurcation (cm)
The results on stem length to first bifurcation as partial by, cultivars and their interaction are presented in Table 3. Significant differences were noticed for stem length to first bifurcation among the cultivars for the two seasons. Significantly higher stem length to first bifurcation was noticed (18.61 cm). The cultivar Mycoteja recorded significantly highest stem length to first bifurcation (28.42 cm), while significantly lowest stem length to first bifurcation was recorded in Vajra (22.73 cm) cultivar which was found to be on par with the cultivars L.C.A-305, 999 and, L.C.A-620. The highest Stem length to first bifurcation was observed for
the cultivar (28.42 cm) which was found to be on par with the stem lengths of cultivars.
Stem diameter (cm)
The results on stem diameter in chilli cultivars are presented in Table 4. No significant differences were noticed for stem diameter. Among the cultivars, L.C.A-960 had significantly thinner stem (0.562 cm), whereas cultivar L.C.A-206, L.C.A-305 had the thickest stem (1.23cm) which was found to be on par with the stem diameter of cultivars Rabbi, 999, L.C.A-625, Mycoteja. The interaction effect was found to be significant for the stem diameter. Super-10, Vajra, L.C.A-334 had significantly lowest stem diameter (0.334 cm), while, the highest stem diameter was noticed in the cultivar L.C.A-436(1.34 cm) which was on par with the stem diameters of cultivars.
Stem Shape
The stem shape was found to be angular for all the cultivars are shown in Table 4.
Stem color
The cultivars exhibited three types of stem color viz., green, green with purple stripes and purple(Table 4 & Figures 1 - 3). All but three cultivars had green with purple stripes colored stem. Cultivars LCA-206, Super-10 and G-5 had Intermediate colored stems (Table 4).
Stem pubescence
The stem pubescence was recorded on mature plants from each cultivar, excluding the first two nodes below the shoot (Table 4). The cultivars either had sparse, intermediate or dense pubescence on their stems. Eight of the 20cultivars had dense pubescence on their stems while six cultivars had sparse and the remaining six cultivars had intermediate stem pubescence.
Nodal Anthocyanin
The nodal anthocyanin was recorded at plant maturity. The cultivars had their nodes colored either light purple or purple or dark purple (Table 5 & Figure 3). Ten of the 20 cultivars had purple nodes, twelve had light purple and remaining eight cultivars had dark purple nodal anthocyanin.
Plant growth habit
The Plant growth habit was observed when 50 per
cent of the plants had ripe fruits. The plants were both intermediate or prostrate in their growth habits of the 20 cultivars used in the study 18 of them had intermediate type of plant growth and two cultivars had erect type of plant growth.
Branching Habit
The plant branching habit was observed at plant maturity. The branching habit was either sparse or intermediate or dense. Twenty cultivars showed intermediate type of branching habit and six of them had sparse and dense branching habit.
Tillering
The plant tillering habit was observed at plant maturity. The tillering habit of the cultivars could be grouped into either sparse or intermediate or dense. Of the 20 cultivars, of them had intermediate tillering habit.
Plant height (cm)
The results on plant height was influenced by seasons, cultivars and their interaction are presented in Table 6. Significant differences were noticed for plant height among the cultivars. Significantly taller plants were noticed with 114.60cm height. The cultivar recorded significantly G-4 highest plant height (114.60cm), while significantly low plant height (63.87cm) was recorded in G-5 cultivar. Morphological characters of chilli genotypes
Morphological traits like fruit position, mature green fruit color and number of fruits per axil of all successions are given in Table 6.
Fruit position
Totally 20 genotypes, based on fruit position were divided into two groups viz., Pendent and Erect. Among them, maximum number of genotypes had pendent fruits while only one Mycoteja produced erect fruits. These results are similar to those reported by Arup et al. (2011) with maximum genotypes having pendent fruits.
Mature green fruit color
Based on immature fruit color, the genotypes were divided into three group's viz., Green, Parrot Green and Dark Green. Among them, maximum genotypes had green fruits and three of them (LCA-334, LCA-625,999) had parrot green fruits while only five (LCA-305, LCA-424, LCA-436, LCA-960 and Mycoteja) had dark green
fruits and thus results are in line with similar observations recorded by Arup et al. (2011).
Fruits per axil
The genotypes, based on fruits per axil were divided into two groups viz., Solitary and Cluster. Among them, maximum genotypes produced solitary fruits except Mycoteja, Rabbi, and Vajra, which had cluster bearing habit.
Mean performance of genotypes
The data on the mean performance, which was recorded for ten quantitative and six qualitative characters, are presented in Table 7 and Figure 4.
Plant height (cm)
The plant height ranged from 63.87 cm to 114.60 cm with a mean of 88.18 cm. The genotype G-4 recorded maximum plant height (114.60 cm) followed by Super-10 (112.30 cm) while the genotype G-5 recorded the minimum plant height (63.87 cm).
Number of primary branches per plant
The number of primary branches per plant was in the range of 2.75 to 4.90 with a mean of 3.60. The genotypes, LCA-206 and LCA-620 recorded the highest number of primary branches (4.90) followed the lowest was observed for G-3 (2.3).
Days to 50 per cent flowering
Days to 50 per cent flowering ranged from 25 to 40 with a mean of 31.40 days. The genotype Vajra recorded maximum no. of days to 50 per cent flowering (40) followed by LCA-235 (38), while Rabbi (25) and Mycoteja (31.00) were the earliest to flower.
Fruit set per cent
The fruit set per cent varied from 18 to 80 with a mean of 51.40. The maximum fruit set per cent was observed for LCA-625 (80) followed by LCA-436 (78) and LCA-353 (76), whereas the minimum per cent was recorded G-3 (18) proceeded by LCA-334 (64) and LCA-235 (32).
Number of fruits per plant
The number of fruits per plant ranged from 116.70to 390 with a mean of 179.55. This trait exhibited maximum mean value for the genotype Rabbi (389.50) followed by LCA-625 (345.40),while the minimum mean value was
recorded for Super-10 (77.50) proceeded by 999 (78.90).
Fruit diameter (cm)
The range of fruit diameter varied from 0.82 cm to 2.55 cm with a mean of 1.32 cm. The maximum diameter was recorded by the genotype LCA-625 (2.0 cm) followed by LCA-334 (1.22 cm) and LCA-960 (1.99 cm), whereas the minimum diameter was recorded by LCA-235 (0.82 cm) proceeded by Mycoteja (1.45 cm).
Fruit length (cm)
The fruit length had the range of 6.78 cm to 12.90 cm with a mean of 9.50 cm. The maximum fruit length was observed for the genotype LCA-353 (12.97 cm) followed by Super-10(8.61 cm) and LCA-235 (8.60 cm) while the minimum was recorded by LCA-620 (9.60 cm) preceded by G-5 (4.42 cm).
Average dry fruit weight (g)
The range of this character varied from 0.72 g to 1.65 g with a mean of 1.10 g. The maximum fruit weight was noticed in 999 (1.65 g) followed by LCA-235 (1.59 g) and LCA-960 (1.52 g) and the minimum was in Rabbi (0.72 g).
Number of seeds per fruit
The number of seeds per fruit ranged from 45.90 to 96.50 with a mean of 72.88. The highest mean performance for this trait was recorded for genotype the Rabbi (96.50) followed by LCA-235 (59.00), whereas the lowest for LCA-625 (78.40) preceded by Vajra (60.00).
Yield per plant
The range of this character varied from 85.99 g to 305.50 g with a mean of 159.51 g. The maximum mean performance was observed for genotype LCA-625 (305.50 g) followed by LCA-620 (251.90 g) and LCA-424 (164.50 g) while the minimum value was observed for LCA-305 (131.81 g) preceded by LCA-960 (96.30 g).
In the present study, a high range of variability was observed for all the characters. Variability was maximum for number of fruits per plant (45.99 to 305.50). The characters showing wide range of variation provide an ample scope for selecting desired types. These results are in accordance with those reported by earlier workers (Vani et all., 2007; Farhad et al., 2008; Kumari et al., 2010; Naresh et al., 2011; Gupta et al. ,2009). These
findings recommend that it is possible to isolate superior genotypes during the field level selection process.
The typical taxonomic method to identify a selection for both varietal purity testing and varietal identification is by the use of plant diagnostic characters. Seed, seedling and plant characters are considered to be major constituents of variety identification since they provide reliable and dependable data. However, it is difficult to identify cultivars based on single morphological trait. Instead, morphological traits are essential to distinguish the cultivars (Oo et al., 2017). In the present study, quantitative characters were studied and dissimilarity was observed in almost all quantitative and seedling morphological characters.
Appearance of different characteristics of seedlings like pubescence, pigmentation is found to be varietal specific and helps in early identification of chilli cultivars at seedling stage itself. In the present study, 20 seedling morphological characters like, hypocotyl color, hypocotyl pubescence, cotyledon leaf color, cotyledon leaf shape, cotyledon leaf length and cotyledon leaf width were used to characterize the chilly cultivars. Colour of hypocotyl is triggered by the deposition of several flavonoids in the hypocotyl tissues, the pigment malvidin with small amounts of delphinidin and petunidin (Maji, Banerji, 2016). These dyes are under genetic control and the pleotropic effects cause color variation (Peters, 1984) and hence it can be used for characterization. Based on hypocotyl color cultivars were categorized into three groups viz., light purple, medium purple and dark purple. While, most of the cultivars were found to have medium purple colored hypocotyls, only four cultivars viz. LCA-424, Vajra, G-3 had light purple hypocotyl and can be utilized to identify these cultivars (Figures 1 - 3). Hypocotyl pubescence observed on the seedlings was sparse, intermediate or dense. Majority of the cultivars had dense pubescence on their hypocotyls, while only Mycoteja had sparse pubescence on its hypocotyl. Therefore, this character can be readily employed as an efficient marker to identify Mycoteja cultivar. Most of the cultivars had green cotyledon leaf color, while, Mycoteja and Vajra were the only two cultivars with light green cotyledon leaf color. As all the cultivars possessed lanceolate leaf shape this trait was not suitable even for grouping of the cultivars.
Cotyledon leaf length varied between 15.66 mm (LCA-305) to 17.66 mm (Aparna), while the Cotyledon leaf width varied between 3.33 mm (G-5) to 5 mm (LCA-960) among the cultivars used for the study. As the variances between the highest and lowest values for cotyledon leaf length and width was very slight among the cultivars, only the cultivars at the either end of the scale could be recognized by using these two characters.
Therefore, midst seedling morphological traits, hypocotyl color and pubescence were found to be suitable for broader classification of genotypes into dissimilar groups but not for identification of distinct variety. Although, these characters are in use for a long time till today (Harris W. and Beever, 2000; Kristkova et al., 2008) for varietal characterization, but their full exploitation was not achieved.
Plant morphological traits
Plant morphological characters have been used for classification of several crop varieties like lettuce (Kristkova et al., 2008), in chilli, (Adetula and Olakojo, 2006), cabbage (Harris and Beever, 2000). This is an outmoded method of varietal identification in which plants have to be maintained till maturity.
Plant growth traits
In the present study, plant growth traits were studied. Large variations were noticed for stem length to first bifurcation among the cultivars. Stem length to first bifurcation ranged from 10.80 cm (LCA-424) to 26.33 cm (LCA-620) among the cultivars, taller and shorter stems were noticed. Hence, this character could be used for varietal identification. Stem diameter showed wide variations among the cultivars and it ranged from 0.562 cm (LCA-960) to 1.23 cm (LCA-305) among the cultivars. Based on stem color, cultivars LCA-206 and LCA-305 which had purple colored stems and Suryateja with green colored stem could be clearly distinguished from the rest of the cultivars which had stems of green with purple colored stripes. Hence, this character was found to be more useful in varietal identification. The stem figure was found to be angular for all the cultivars. Most of the cultivars had dense pubescence on their stalks while the remaining cultivars had either
intermediate or sparse stem pubescence was found for all the cultivars.
The pigment, Anthocyanin which imparts purple color in plant may be used as the marker for effective varietal identification. The nodal anthocyanin pigmentation is known to be controlled by an incompletely dominant gene and a modifier gene which intensifies the purple color (Peterson, 1959; Reyes, 2004). The pigment, Anthocyanin which imparts purple color in plant may be used as the marker for effective varietal identification. The nodal anthocyanin pigmentation is known to be controlled by an incompletely dominant gene and a modifier gene which intensifies the purple color (Manju and Sreelathakumary, 2002; Bozokalfa and Turhan, 2009; Padma et al., 2017; Hasan et al., 2014). Varieties within most species exhibit heritable and sometimes dramatic, differences in their growth and morphology. Plant architecture is very important because it affects shoot length, flowering node, branch presence and orientation, habit, growth determinacy, fruit number, fruit size and the final yield (Alvarez et al., 1992; González et al., 2016). It is mostly under the control of single gene and the genetic changes operate at the level of the whole plant (Gottlie 1986). Hence, provides excellent characters for characterization and
identification of varieties.
Most of the cultivars had either intermediate or erect type of plant growth habit and only Mycoteja cultivar showed prostrate type of plant growth. Hence, this character would be very useful to identify Mycoteja cultivar. Cultivars LCA-353, LCA-620, LCA-625 were the only cultivars with dense bifurcating habit and could be utilized for identification of these cultivars. Intermediate tillering habit was found to be more common among the cultivars and only three cultivars viz., Vajra, Super-10, LCA-620, and LCA-235 showed dense tillering habit. This character was particularly useful for explicit identification of LCA-235, LCA-625 cultivars. All these three characters viz., plant growth habit, branching habit and tillering habit did not vary between the seasons for any of the cultivars. Such changes in plant growth habit and branching habit midst the cultivars were reported by different authors (Adetula and Olakojo, 2006; Manju and Sreelathakumary 2002; Bozokalfa and Turhan 2009) in chilli. Plant height and plant spread are significant characters of variety identification especially for identification of off type at the time of field inspection. Plant height cultivars were studied ranged from 63.87 cm (G-5) to 114.60 cm (G-4), while plant spread ranged from 29.00 cm (Mycoteja) to 101.75 cm (LCA-424).
Treatment Accession Number Source
1 G-3 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
2 G-4 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
3 G-5 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
4 LCA-206 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
5 LCA-235 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
6 LCA-305 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
7 LCA-353 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
8 LCA-334 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
9 LCA-424 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
10 LCA-436 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
11 LCA-620 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
12 LCA-625 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
13 LCA-960 HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
14 APARNA HRS, Lam farm, Guntur
15 VAJRA Local market, Guntur
16 RABBI Local market, Guntur
17 SUPER 10 Local market, Guntur
18 999 Local market, Guntur
19 SURYATEJA Local market, Guntur
20 MYCO TEJA Local market, Guntur
Table-1. Source of the Chilli genotypes (Capsicum annuum L.)
Table-2. Hypocotyl color, hypocotyl pubescence, cotyledon leaf color and cotyledon leaf shape in Chilli cultivars
Cultivars Hypocotyl color Hypocotyl Pubescence Cotyledon leaf color Cotyledon leaf shape
G-3 Light purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
G-4 Dark purple Dense Green Lanceolate
G-5 Medium purple Dence Green Lanceolate
LCA-206 Dark purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
LCA-235 Light purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
LCA-305 Medium purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
LCA-353 Light purple Dence Green Lanceolate
LCA-334 Medium purple Dence Green Lanceolate
LCA-424 Light purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
LCA-436 Medium purple Intermidiate Green Lanceolate
LCA-620 Medium purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
LCA-625 Light purple Intermidiate Green Lanceolate
CA-960 Dark purple Intermediate Green Lanceolate
APARNA Medium purple Dense Green Lanceolate
VAJRA Light purple Intermidiate Green Lanceolate
RABBI Medium purple intermediate Green Lanceolate
SUPER 10 Light purple Intermidiate Green Lanceolate
999 Medium purple Dense Green Lanceolate
'X i f
T t ) J
Figure 1. Hypocotyl color of chilli cultivars
Figure 2. Hypocotyl pubescence of chilli cultivars
)
Figure 3. Cotyledon leaf color of chilli cultivars
Table 3. Cotyledon leaf length, cotyledon leaf width and stem length to first bifurcation in Chilli cultivars
Genotypes Cotyledon leaf length (mm) Cotyledon leaf width (mm) Stem length to first bifurcation (cm)
G-3 16.66 4.33 26.23
G-4 16.33 3.64 23.73
G-5 16.00 3.33 22.50
LCA-206 15.56 3.33 23.50
LCA-235 15.66 4.00 11.00
LCA-305 16.00 3.66 23.37
LCA-353 17.00 4.00 22.50
LCA-334 16.00 4.00 18.13
LCA-424 17.00 4.00 10.80
LCA-436 16.00 4.00 10.80
LCA-620 15.66 4.33 26.33
LCA-625 15.66 4.00 19.66
LCA-960 17.33 5.00 23.73
APARNA 17.66 4.66 13.50
VAJRA 16.33 4.00 22.73
RABBI 16.33 4.33 19.23
SUPER 10 17.33 4.66 4.83
999 16.33 4.00 22.73
SURYA TEJA 16.33 3.64 23.73
MYCO TEJA 17.00 4.00 28.42
Table 4. Stem color, stem shape and stem pubescence in Chilli cultivars.
Genotypes Stem color Stem shape Stem Pubescence
G-3 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
G-4 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
G-5 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
LCA-206 Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
LCA-235 Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
LCA-305 Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
LCA-353 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
LCA-334 Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
LCA-424 Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
LCA-436 Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
LCA-620 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
LCA-625 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
CA-960 Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
APARNA Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
VAJRA Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
RABBI Green w th purple stripes Angular Sparse
SUPER 10 Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
999 Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
SURYA TEJA Green w th purple stripes Angular Dense
MYCO TEJA Green w th purple stripes Angular Intermediate
Table 5. Variation in morphological features of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)
Fruit Fruits per Mature green fruit
Genotypes position axil color
G-3 pendent solitary green
G-4 pendent solitary green
G-5 pendent solitary green
LCA-206 pendent solitary green
LCA-235 pendent solitary green
LCA-305 pendent solitary dark green
LCA-353 pendent solitary dark green
LCA-334 pendent solitary parrot green
LCA-424 pendent solitary dark green
LCA-436 pendent solitary dark green
LCA-620 pendent solitary dark green
LCA-625 pendent solitary parrot green
LCA-960 pendent solitary drk green
APARNA pendent solitary green
VAJRA pendent cluster green
RABBI pendent cluster green
SUPER 10 pendent solitary green
999 pendent solitary parrot green
SURYA TEJA pendent solitary green
MYCO TEJA errect cluster dark green
Figure 4. Dendrogram showing mean performance of various quantitative characters in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes
Table 6. Mean performance of various quantitative characters in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes, Bold values indicate maximum and minimum mean performance.
ct. i—' s 3 cl ~ éïE 97.55 195.81 144.91 cm cm cd a 100.39 131.81 153.46 rj <o td (o iH cj ro i-i s o lo co <h dû 00 cm co iH ö ol lo cm 305.50 o en (o oí 178.25 ö co cri 3 ö co oí 3 où co d 1—1 rm Ol 9¡ lo so t-i T lo c^j iH 108.75 102.3 159.51 17.90 g c£j o oo "i 55.64
Number of Seeds per Fruit, [NSF] Ci tO od lt) Ci lo 'JZ' 00 r-l 01 Ci o oí lt) 52.50 CJ 1/1 cd T Ci lO r^ lo o o i lo o en tÔ to OÛ cd d lo Ci lo ol lo C3 ol od og od r- O d OO o o cm h- Ci LO oí LO CJ o d ' T.I C3 LO co Oí o ro Lri LO o 00 Lfj Is- 48.80 0 01 LO 72.88 12.70 CO ÜT) LO LT3 11.77
Average Dry Fruit Weight [g), (ADFW) S d Lfj oû d 1.49 0.72 O) OÛ d m o ■—i i-H CM r-i g d 0.96 0.91 1.49 1.10 1.53 1.52 0.91 0.96 1.19 0.72 1.46 1.65 0.75 0.73 1.10 18.40 12.22 0.10 Oí CO d
Fruit Length [cm) (FL) CM co o CO r— CM CM en Oí o •o cd o où 9.25 LT) LO Oí en CM <H DÛ cd Oí lied o ¿D oí o rod cM 00 od *f od CM 1/1 od 10.53 Oí oi ud —1 co od ö cä is lh lo od o lt) OÍ 6.70 Ol CM lh d lo oí d
Fruit Diameter (cm) (FD) 1.33 1.15 1.99 ín n r—i oq o 1.32 1.52 1.00 1.22 1.60 1.42 1.49 o ni 1.99 0.99 1.49 1.41 rM r—i 1.52 2.55 1.60 1.45 1.32 4.00 CO r^ rM 0.05 i o d
Number of Fruits per Plant (NFP) 116.70 227.00 S IS m iH 184.00 185.60 S Oí LT? •H g d i—1 s oí r— CM s LT) Ol ■H s oí to CM 145.70 g od 00 CM -7 iri T co 0S"88 g d *—i cm £¡ Oí cm •H 5 rd c-o *—i s Oî CO CO o o LO od —i o cm 179.60 LO UT> OÍ Cú iE od iH O CM cd •H 12.88 o «S CM tO
Fruit Set Per cent (FSP) § od ■H 46.50 31.00 57.00 S CM lO 48.00 55.00 76.00 64.00 44.00 78.00 58.00 s d CD 35.00 67.00 38.00 g Cri LO g iri 8 Oí CM g CM LO 58.00 48.00 s « LO 11.50 11.40 CO d LO où to
— ii — = i 10 o
SE ï uU. ï* c ll Ä h S Q (j ti s CM co 31.40 34.60 31.00 3S.00 36.00 30.50 29.60 29.20 S CM M 33.00 31.50 30.00 25.55 g od CM 36.00 31.55 25.60 29.80 29.00 35.00 31.00 § « CO 8.39 o LO LO 1.94 2.99
Number of Primary Branches per Plant [NPBP] LO F- cm g r\i CT" cm o Oí * s cd LTl CT" cxi Oí cm LO Ol rd 3.20 3.90 g cd 4.20 g rd o Oí cm LO m rd 3.50 3.60 3.10 g M 3.70 2.91 3.50 g M 15.00 s iri 0.29 0.91
£ en 1F EL S. g r—; 00 114.60 £ pi ta s o g cid tO g s 3 d 00 LO m od co 85.50 g CM <o S U-j tO 83.55 g LT) oí 74.90 g id di 96.70 g rM en 105.31 112.50 g m CD S irj 81.50 88.18 in LO co 13.90 0.44 12.11
Genotype m Ó T 13 LO Ó LCA-206 LCA-235 LCA-305 LCA-315 LCA-353 LCA-334 LCA-424 LCA-436 LCA-620 LCA-625 LCA-960 LCA-334 APARNA £ s RABBI SUPER 10 Oí Oí Ol <: ■ í LU 1— cc => to MYCO TEJA Mean C.V. F ratio S.D. C.D. 5%
Table 7. performance of various quantitative characters in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes
—
dj
Tj S o) re CC CL 196.63 tM OJ IN tM m 00 rM 272.77 163.13 113.46 253.46 co °° oí tfi .-i 307.13 131.79 tM s 234.46 142.63 253.46 tM rr¡ 00 e-i .-1 tN (M tM i» oí tí) 68.96 tM en od CM .-1 147.63 179.62 5 r\i CO 0.347
TJ
■U
■(—i ss fil- ei .-i rM o el CO ü1 iM pi m ei .-i (M Ltl id CM tO el .-1 Líl fM Ol el m —i tO el tO (M o Líl id 00 tO el to el to CO tJl a
£ ^ o ~ r- iH rM iv) LD iH r- .-1 M tM ft id (D iH ■M <D <H 0 01 ■—1 r- iH el id s to (O iH o in m tM (O iH to LD <H 0 01 1 to 5 r- .-1 ai el s 3 el O
"H Ol ís § 1 ft tO £ tO cr¡ Lfl to ID in tO e '■O s CM i ^r ID S- s LD ■rf s ID ■H m s Líl "O ^r LD r^ p to m LÍ1 vf s 01 CM t£j s 3 to <N oj
o O O o o o o Ö Ö Ö o O o o O o Ö Ö ö o Ö o O
J= ■a
= £ ir) r.-1 CM r.-1 r.-1 Ol m m m id OI -1 m -1 í—1 m r.-1 tM -1 ch —1 id ■—1 Ol CM rH
Li. Ü .-i .-1 ri .-1 .-1 .-1 o .-1 .-1 .-1 O 11 il .-1 .-1 ■-I O O
Fruit length (cm) in r^ r\i .-1 11.75 id tM 10.75 m to tn 7.75 o .-1 id ÍM to 7.15 id r- tO ld to id tM to id tM to 11.75 ö Ltl o .-1 id tM tri —1 *-1 CM tM to r-i 0.171
Fruitsi Plant ty ld t(j ÍM CO Ltl tO ID Oi o o id <M ÍM r—1 Ol o CO if LD LD C) 00 r^ O OI Í—i tn (O id (N tO tM to ld CO CM (0 (D Ol
ÍM r—1 to ■d-ld to Ol ld r— 00 ld o m ^r (O ld ld o O 00 00 OI T r— c*. tM
£ o
Plant height 1/1 tM Ol 105.5 0 01 .-1 00 CI 00 ld tri 00 73.5 td tO 00 (O .-i (O ih OI ld r^ OI ld ai 72.5 O ai el O »H 107 105.5 td tO Ol CO 00 id CO r^ 00 13.191 o m •—i ö
Days to first fruit maturity ld ltl id ld ld ld ld ld ld ld ld S to tri ld
r—1 rM .-1 ai OJ .-1 s iH OJ a —i ÍM Cl 1 OI e*J .-1 m el .-1 ÍM r\l .-1 oo rM —1 s m el TH *—1 OI ■—1 *—1 OI ■—i *—i 118 .-1 119 iH rM Si >-1 O O
cl.E s 1
q q " 5= Ltl Líl Ltl líi Líl Líl Líl Líl Ltl lí1 rM —i tM (D el ffl CM
a 8 o to iO to —1 to Ol d to —i to oi i-- -J' to oo r- ö to el to tM to —1 to ÍO to vito (M <o el to tD to —i to o to tM CO to tM o o
Genotypes el O Ltl ib L.C.A-206 L.C.A-235 L.C.A-305 L.C.A-334 L.C.A-353 L.C.A-424 L.C.A-436 L.C.A-620 L.C.A-625 L.C.A-960 APARNA VAJRA RABBI SUPER-10 Ol ol Ol SURYA TEJA MYCO TEJA Mean oí 5
Based on plant height, the cultivars were characterized into four groups, are short, medium, tall and very tall plants. Of the five cultivars which belonged to medium plant height (LCA-206), two cultivars viz., Super-10 and Suryateja were categorized as short plants which was grouped into tall plants. Such difference in plant height was also noticed in chilli (Adetula and Olakojo, 2006; Manju and Sreelathakumary 2002; Bozokalfa and Turhan 2009; Kashinath 2003). Hence, both plant height and plant spread characters may not be suitable for clear cut characterization, however they can be used to distinguish cultivars that belong to either end of the scale.
Based on qualitative fruit characters like fruit color at intermediate stage and at mature stage, neck at the base of fruit, fruit shape at the pedicel and blossom end, fruit cross sectional corrugation, fruit surface and ripe fruit persistence, it was possible to make distinction between the varieties to a larger magnitude. But, the keys developed using these qualitative fruit characters was found to be grossly inadequate to distinguish many varieties from each other and they were found to be grouped under a single category. However, use of some prominent quantitative characters like fruit length and width to supplement these qualitative characters would certainly aid in further resolution of varieties from each other as these are very apparent in the field and the difference between the varieties for these two characters is also very large among the varieties. Henceforth, supplementing qualitative with some very apparent quantitative characters would serve better to develop more efficient keys for identification of dissimilar varieties.
CONCLUSION
From the results, it was concluded that all the 20 genotypes deliberated are significantly different from one another showing that there is quantifiable variability among the genotypes of (Capsicum annuum L.) considered. Cultivars with superior seed size had sophisticated values for germination, seedling length, seedling dry weight and seedling potency than that of cultivars with lesser seeds. Hence, these characters which seem to mimic the characters of seed size, weight
might be of some use for broad grouping of the cultivars. Midst seedling morphological traits, hypocotyl color, pubescence, between stem characters and stem color were found to be useful for identification of cultivar.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Special thanks to Prof. L. Naram Naidu of Horticulture Research Station, Lam Guntur for supplying chilli seeds and my co-scholars for their help and cooperation.
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