Effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the growth of habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)

Objective: To evaluate the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the growth and production of habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.). Design/Methodology/Approach: Twelve strains of PGPR were evaluated in habanero pepper seeds of the orange variety. The species of PGPR were Rhizobium leguminosarum: (CP Méx 46), Pseudomonas spp: (P fluorescens, C2, A7, A9, A9m, Avm); Azospirillum, (Sp7, Sp 59, UAP 40, UAP154), plus a control treatment, giving a total of 13 treatments. The study variables were seedling emergence (SE), plant height (PH), white fruit incidence (WFI), virotic plants (VP), days to flowering (DF) and fresh fruit yield (FFY). The experimental design was random blocks with four repetitions. Results: An effect on the growth of habanero pepper from PGPRs was found in all the variables studied. Seedling emergence and their height was favored by strains Sp9 (84.16%) and A7 (73.44). The number of white flies decreased with the inoculation of CP Méx 46, while the incidence of virosis decreased in plants inoculated with SP9 (32.00%). The highest yield of fresh fruit was found in plants with the strain AVM with 16636 kg ha-1. Findings/Conclusions: The effect of inoculation with PGPR is in function of the strain used and the study variable, growth stage and development stage of the habanero pepper plant.

Isolation and Identification of Fungi Associated with Habanero Pepper (Capsicum chinense jacq) Using Basic Molecular Techniques

Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is an economically important vegetable. It is used as spices for foods and for medicinal purposes in many parts of the country. Despite the importance of the crop, it has been observed that during storage, the fruits of the Habanero pepper (HP) shelf-life is reduced by several post-harvest diseases caused by fungal pathogens. A study was conducted to identify the common fungal pathogens causing post-harvest rot of Habanero fruits at the daily market in Omoko Aluu Town, Rivers State. The DNA of the most common fungal isolate HP-02 was molecularly characterized using Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS-1) molecular marker. The HP-02 isolate DNA sequence was aligned using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool for nucleotide (BLASTN) 2.8.0 version of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The results indicated that the HP-02 isolate sequence was 79% identical to Mucor irregularis and also Rhizomucor viriabilis isolate SAPB3. These findings showed that Mucor irregularis, which was formerly known as Rhizomucor variabilis is one of the emerging causal fungal pathogens of post-harvest Habanero pepper.

Effect of the Soil and Ripening Stage in Capsicum chinense var. Jaguar on the Content of Carotenoids and Vitamins

The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of the ripening stage and type of soil on the concentration of carotenoids and vitamins in Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.). Pepper plants were grown in two soils named according to the Mayan classification as: K’ankab lu’um (red soil) and Box lu’um (black soil). The results of two harvests at 320 and 334 PTD (post-transplant day) showed that the ripening stage exhibited a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the concentration of carotenoids and vitamins, while the effect of the soil type was negligible. The concentration of carotenoids decreases as the ripening process of the fruit takes place, with the highest concentration of lutein (49.47 ± 0.34 mg/100 g of dry mass), β-carotene (99.92 ± 0.69 mg/100 g of dry mass) and β-cryptoxanthin (20.93 ± 0.04 mg/100 g of dry mass) in the unripe peppers. The concentration of vitamins increases as the ripening process develops, with the highest concentration of Vitamin E (9.69 ± 0.02 mg/100 g of dry mass) and Vitamin C (119.44 ± 4.72 mg/100 g of dry mass) in the ripe peppers. This knowledge could be used to select the best ripening stage to harvest Habanero peppers according to the use of the pepper and to the needs of producers/company.

Flowering Time and Productivity of Interspecific Grafts Between Pepper Species in Contrasting High Tunnel-sheltered and Open-field Production Environments in Costa Rica

The production of sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum) is often constrained in tropical environments by susceptibility to persistent soil-borne diseases, including bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum). However, the production of sweet peppers in high tunnels using sterile soilless media irrigated with nutrient solution offers the potential to reduce the incidence of bacterial wilt. An additional strategy for disease management is the use of sweet pepper scions grafted onto rootstocks that are resistant to soil-borne pathogens. Two sweet pepper cultivars grown extensively in the tropics, Nathalie and 4212, were used as scions and grafted onto the habanero pepper cultivar Habanero TEC (Capsicum chinense) and the aji pepper cultivar Baccatum TEC (Capsicum baccatum). Two cultivars related to the two rootstocks were prescreened for susceptibility to two virulent strains of bacterial wilt. Graft combinations were grown in two environments, a high tunnel with automatic nutrient solution irrigation of containers filled with sterile coconut fiber and an open field with known high levels of bacterial wilt inoculum. Self-grafted and nongrafted plants of scions were included as checks. The disease susceptibility screening showed that the area under the disease progress curve was consistently low for ‘Habanero TEC’ and ‘Baccatum TEC’ when inoculated with two virulent strains of bacterial wilt, suggesting that habanero pepper cultivars and, to a lesser degree, aji pepper cultivars may be useful as rootstocks in soils with bacterial wilt inoculum. Significant increases in yield, fruit number, and reduced time to flowering were observed in the high tunnel compared with the open-field environment. Individual fruit weight was reduced in the high tunnel compared with the field. Yield, fruit number, fruit weight, and time to flowering were consistent between scions regardless of rootstock. No differences were observed for yield, fruit number, fruit weight, or time to flowering of self-grafted and nongrafted scion checks. In the high tunnel, yield was higher in scions grafted onto ‘Habanero TEC’ compared with self-grafted and nongrafted checks. In the open field, yield and fruit number were highest on scions grafted onto ‘Habanero TEC’. Regardless of graft treatment, high-tunnel production in tropical environments can result in significant increases in yield and fruit number compared with open-field production. No advantage of grafted plants was observed in the high-tunnel production environment. In contrast, in the open-field environment, grafting sweet pepper scions onto pungent habanero rootstocks resulted in a significant increase in yield, fruit number, and fruit size compared with self-grafted and nongrafted checks. The increase was likely attributable to the resistance of habanero pepper cultivars to soil-borne diseases, including bacterial wilt.

Agronomic Performance, Capsaicinoids, Polyphenols and Antioxidant Capacity in Genotypes of Habanero Pepper Grown in the Southeast of Coahuila, Mexico

The genetic improvement program of the Seed Technology Training and Development Center works on the agronomic characterization and the content of bioactive compounds in eight genotypes of habanero pepper. The objective is to select genotypes with good agronomic performance that allow the generation of inbred lines to obtain hybrids. In this study, the agronomic performance and the content of bioactive compounds (capsaicinoids, polyphenols, and antioxidant capacity) were evaluated in eight genotypes of habanero pepper grown in the southeast of Coahuila, Mexico, identified as HNC-1, HNC-2, HNC-3, HNC-4, HNC-5, HNC-6, HNC-7, and HCC-8. The plants were grown in a greenhouse for 127 days, under a completely randomized design with four replications each. The results revealed that the yield (g∙plant−1) and number of fruits per plant did not show significant differences between genotypes. However, for the fruit length, the genotypes HCC-8, HNC-7, HNC-6, and HNC-5 stood out with over 40 mm, while in equatorial diameter of the fruit, HCC-8, HNC-4, and HNC-2 stood out with 26.45, 26.46, and 25.12 mm, respectively. The results of the chemical analyses allowed us to identify that HNC-5 and HNC-6 had the highest capsaicin concentration (931.38 and 959.77 mg∙kg−1), dihydrocapsaicin (434.95 and 445.89 mg∙kg−1), Scoville Heat Units greater than 210,000, total phenols (67.54 and 71.15 mg/100 g) and total flavonoids (34.21 and 38.29 mg/100 g), respectively. The HNC-1 and HNC-6 genotypes had the highest carotenoids concentration with 103.96 and 105.07 mg/100 g, and HCC-8 registered the highest anthocyanin content with 22.08 mg C3GE/100 g. The antioxidant capacities showed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between genotypes, with a range of 43.22 to 110.39 µmol TE/100 g, 72.37 to 186.56 µmol TE/100 g, and 191.41 to 244.98 µmol TE/100 g for the tests of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2,2′azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)), and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power). The results of this research will be used to select habanero pepper genotypes that can be used in genetic improvement programs to increase the productive potential and the content of bioactive compounds in the fruits to expand their applications in the food industry.

Etiology of habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense) wilt in Tabasco, Mexico

El objetivo de este estudio fue detectar el agente causal de la marchitez del chile habanero en cuatro municipios de Tabasco, en las áreas cacaoteras donde se está incentivando la producción de chile habanero. Se realizaron muestreos en cuatro municipios: Huimanguillo (1), Cárdenas (2), Cunduacán (9) y Centro (3). Las muestras se sembraron y aislaron para la identificación morfológica y molecular. Se realizaron pruebas de patogenicidad con seis aislamientos: <em>Phytophthora</em> (1) y <em>Fusarium</em> (5) obtenidos de 15 plantaciones de chile habanero. El aislado <em>Phytophthora</em> (CH132) fue patogénica en la prueba de patogenicidad, en plántulas de chile habanero de dos meses de edad y, ninguno de los aislados de <em>Fusarium</em> mostró patogenicidad. La cepa de <em>Phytophthora</em> fue identificada como <em>P. capsici</em> empleando características morfológicas y el uso de la secuencia del COI. Las cepas de <em>P. capsici</em> no se mostraron patogénicas en mazorcas de cacao. No se detectó a <em>P. capsici</em> en las plántulas de chile de los municipios cacaoteros de Huimanguillo, Cárdenas y Cunduacán en la subzona hidrológica 1, pero <em>P. capsici</em> sí está presente en Acachapa y Colmena, Centro, Tabasco.

Fertilizers in the yield of chile habanero (Capsicum chínense) in Úrsulo Galván, Veracruz

Mexico is the country in the world with the greatest genetic variety of Capsicum: its richness is largely due to the diversity of climates and soils, which is why the commonly called “habanero” pepper is found throughout the peninsula. The objective of this project is to evaluate their adaptation to edaphoclimatic conditions different from those prevailing in their area of origin. As well as different mineral and organic fertilizers, which meet the nutritional needs in the cultivation of habanero pepper to obtain better yields and better profits for the producer. The experiment was carried out at the Tecnológico Nacional de Mexico Campus Úrsulo Galván. The experiment was carried out in a shade mesh cover, the experimental design was completely randomized with 5 treatments and 7 repetitions with a total of 35 experimental units. Therefore, it is expected that fertilizers and fertilizers have a greater significant response in the increase of the habanero pepper (Capsicum chínense Jacq) in Úrsulo Galván, Ver.