Morphologic characterization and genetic diversity of Capsicum chinense Jacq. accessions along the upper Rio Negro – Amazonas
Reinaldo Malveira Fonseca, Ricardo Lopes, Willian Silva Barros, Maria Teresa Gomes Lopes and Fabio Medeiros Ferreira
Abstract: The genetic diversity of 38 accessions of the genus Capsicum from the upper Rio Negro in the Amazon region was characterized by 51 morphologic descriptors. The similarity of the accessions was calculated based on 17 essential descriptors and on the general similarity coefficient of Gower. Grouping analyses and a dispersion diagram of the accessions were established based on the similarity coefficients using, respectively, the UPGMA method and the principal coordinate analysis (PCO) as criterion of grouping and dispersion. A great variation of classes were identified in the fruit traits: nine colors, four shapes and a great range of variation in fruit size and weight. Only three accessions were not pungent, since this study focused on the pungent accessions of the genebank. The following pepper morphotypes were identified: three olho-de-peixe types, three pimenta-de-passarinho, four dedo-de-moça, four curabiá, nine murupi and 15 pimenta-de cheiro.