Abstract
Changes in the capsaicin content of pepper fruit during development were investigated with three cultivars and their F1 hybrids. The capsaicin content of‘Fushimiamanaga’ was always less than 0.1 percent in dry matter, showing limited changes. In the other, ‘Takanotsume’and‘Punggak’, the capsaicin content increased rapidly until 4 or 5 weeks after flowering and then decreased gradually, followed by a moderate increase at the fully ripened stage. The capsaicin content of F1 hybrids varied in a pattern intermediate between both parents′ patterns, although the F1 hybrids between‘Fushimi-amanaga’and‘Takanotsume’generally inclined to the former′s pattern.
The genetic effects of parental cultivars on the phenotype of F1 hybrids with regard to the capsaicin content of the ripened fruit were studied by a diallel cross analysis with six cultivars. Though there was little difference between the mean value of the parental cultivars and that of the F1 hybrids, it was found that the direction of dominancy and the percentage of heterosis for the capsaicin content differed with the parental combination. From the analysis of variance of heterosis effects, it was concluded that major component of variance significantly associated with the general combining ability.
In addition to these findings, a significant negative correlation was found between the fresh weight and the capsaicin content of fruit in both the parental cultivars and the F1 hybrids.
