MORPHOFOLOGICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL TRAITS OF PEPPERS (Capsicum baccatum) GENOTYPES

Peppers (Capsicum spp.) are used worldwide as spices, condiments and vegetables, and it is also used for medical and ornamental plants. In Brazil, C. baccatum is one of the most consumed specie and widely cultivated by family farmers, in which 'dedo-de-moça' and 'cambuci' are the main representative types. This pepper specie had a wide genetic variability related to the fruit morphological traits (shape, length, diameter, pericarp thickness) and bioactive compounds as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, capsaicinoids (related to the pungency), ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), and antioxidant activity. The peppers selection with high bioactive compounds content recognized to have properties for disease preventing and health promoting, can be exploited by plant breeding programs, or used for food preservation by industries. Thus, this study aimed to characterize and evaluate twenty-two C. baccatum genotypes (G) based on morphological and phytochemical traits. The experiment was conducted in field trial using randomized block design with three replicates. The fruit morphological traits evaluated were: length (cm), diameter (cm), fresh weight (g), and pericarp thickness (cm). And bioactive compounds evaluated were: acid ascorbic (Vitamin C), total phenolic, total flavonoid and antioxidant activity by FRAP, ABTS and DPPH assays. Fruit morphological and phytochemical traits dataset were evaluated by F test (p<0.05), and the averages were grouped by Scott-Knott test (p<0.05). Pearson correlation was performed and the relative importance of traits was verified by Singh method, calculated in Genes software, while the other analyzes were performed in R software. Fruits length ranged from 1.66 to 11.10 cm, grouped in six clusters by Scott-Knott test, and diameter of fruits ranged from 0.44 to 2.65 cm, with the highest averages for G5, G6, G8, G12, G16, G18 and G21 genotypes. Pericarp thickness ranged from 0.08 to 0.24 cm, in which the most of genotypes showed thickness less than 0.12 cm. Fresh fruits weight ranged from 7.07 to 125.31 g, grouped in seven clusters by Scott and Knott test. Positive correlations were observed for the follow traits: fruit length and fresh weight (r = 0.71), diameter and fresh weight (r = 0.46), diameter and total phenolic content (r = 0.43), and antioxidant activity by DPPH assay and ascorbic acid content (r = 0.43), whereas negative correlation was verified only for diameter and antioxidant activity by FRAP assay (r = -0.60). Flavonoid content ranged from 1.39 to 9.13 mg of Quercetin equivalent per g for G2 and G21, respectively. The highest total phenolic compounds content was found for G5 with 454.58 mg Gallic acid equivalent per g, while the G1 genotype showed higher vitamin C. The G19 genotype had the highest antioxidant activity by FRAP, ABTS and DPPH assays. Flavonoid content was the only one that most contributed to discriminate the genotypes (14.80%), even though the others traits evaluated presented moderate discriminatory power. Morphological and bioactive compounds indicated a wide variability for C. baccatum genotypes that could be relevant for pepper breeding programs, food industries and pharmacological applications, in the future, with high levels of bioactive compounds and morphological traits.