ANALYSIS OF THE DIVERSITY OF SOME HOT PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.) POPULATIONS FROM SOUTHWEST ROMANIA ON THE BASE OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND PRODUCTION CHARACTERS

Abstract

This study presents the characterization of 10 local hot pepper populations selected from the existing germplasm collection within the vegetable growing laboratory of the Faculty of Horticulture in Craiova regarding morphological and productivity characters. Variability analysis indicated low to high variability for most of the characters studied. The average values ranged between 5.3 cm and 10.1 cm for fruit length, between 1.12 cm and 9.38 cm for fruit diameter, between 1.96 cm and 2.86 cm for peduncle length, and for the index of shape values were between 0.69 and 7.58, indicating a conical-elongate fruit shape in most populations. Regarding the number of fruits per plant, there was a very large variation, from 9.1 fruits/plant at V1 De Mârsani to 107 fruits/plant, and the weight of the fruit was between 2.8 g and 11.1. g, and fruit production/ha varied from 3.5 t and 21.0 t/ha. The differences between the studied populations suggest that they can be used in breeding programs for this species.