No abstract

<p>El chile piquín (<em>Capsicum annuum</em> var. <em>glabriusculum</em>) que se consume en México es, en su mayoría, recolectado de plantas silvestres. Esta actividad podría amenazar la diversidad genética de la especie. Idealmente, el chile piquín debería producirse intensivamente para proteger la población silvestre y satisfacer la demanda; sin embargo, la baja germinación de semillas de esta especie de chile ha sido tradicionalmente un problema para su establecimiento a nivel comercial. Las causas de lo anterior son desconocidas. Identificar las causas de la baja germinación y la diversidad entre colectas es, por tanto, de importancia. Se evaluaron 16 diferentes colectas de chile piquín provenientes de siete estados del país y del sur de Estados Unidos. Un estudio morfológico determinó que en las colectas evaluadas no existen diferencias ni barreras morfológicas que impidan la germinación apropiada de las semillas. Una cinética de imbibición determinó que no existen impedimentos físicos para el paso apropiado de agua al interior de las semillas; sin embargo, la germinación de las 16 colectas fue muy variable (0 a 66%), con un promedio de 15%. El pretratamiento de las semillas con la hormona AG₃ (5,000 ppm), elevó la tasa promedio de germinación a 59% en 14 de las 16 colectas, mientras que los tratamientos de acondicionamiento con peróxido de hidrógeno y nitrato de potasio solamente mejoraron la germinación de semillas en dos y cuatro colectas, respectivamente. El presente trabajo corrobora que la limitante de germinación en semillas de chile piquín se debe a un fenómeno de latencia fisiológica, la cual puede romperse con aplicación exógena de AG₃ a 5,000 ppm, cuyos efectos varían entre colectas.</p>

Cool night temperatures have been reported to induce ovary swelling and consequent fruit deformation in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), resulting in unmarketable fruit. This response is a serious limitation to the success of winter production systems for bell pepper. Limited work has been done with other types of sweet pepper, so it is unknown how universal this response is. Furthermore, most prior work has examined effects on ovary diameter only, and there is limited characterization of other ovary traits in response to cool night temperature. The objectives of the present study were to determine the effects of low night temperature on ovary characteristics in different sweet pepper cultivars and to determine the parts of the ovary that are most affected by these factors. Three types of sweet pepper (bell, long-fruited, and cherry) were exposed to 22/20 or 22/12 °C day:night temperatures and flowers at anthesis were continuously harvested throughout the experiments. Ovary fresh weight (FW), diameter, and length across all types (and cultivars within type) were greater under 22/12 °C compared with 22/20 °C. The increase in ovary FW was the result of increases in both ovary wall and placenta FW. In general, all cultivars exhibited increases in ovary size under 12 °C compared with 20 °C night temperature. Differences in ovary FW resulting from night temperature became more pronounced with time. These results indicate that low night temperature effects on ovary swelling may be a universal response among sweet pepper types. Three to 4 weeks are required for maximum swelling response, suggesting that flower buds must be exposed to low night temperatures within the first week after flower bud initiation, because previous work found that flower bud initiation in bell pepper takes ≈4 weeks. However, the duration of low night temperatures necessary for this response remains unknown.

Hydrodistillation, organic solvent extraction, and enfleurage are common techniques for extracting essential oils from plant samples. One factor that influences the essential oil yield is the extraction method used. The aim of the study was to choose the best method for essential oil extraction from pot marigold flowers, based on oil yield, processing time, and number of extracted compounds, for research purposes focused on genotypic characterization.  Yields of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation, organic solvent extraction, and enfleurage were 0.9 ± 0.1, 6.7 ± 0.2 and 7.1 ± 0.15 g of oil per 100 g of dry floral material, respectively. The method that provided the highest-quality oil (without pigments) was the hydrodistillation, which also contained the highest amount of non-polar compounds, but required a long time for processing many samples. Organic solvent extraction and enfleurage are faster for processing, but their extracted oils contain pigments. The most suitable technique for processing many samples in a short period of time was enfleurage because it provided an oil yield seven-fold higher than hydrodistillation and oil with less pigments than organic solvent extraction did. In addition, oil obtained by enfleurage contained the two main compounds in pot marigold flowers, α-cadinene and δ-cadinene.

Low night temperatures and/or high source-sink ratios increase ovary swelling and subsequent fruit malformation in many sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum), including bell pepper. Although this response has been correlated with increased ovary carbohydrate accumulation, evidence for this is limited. Furthermore, it is unknown how the combined effects of night temperature and source-sink ratio affect ovary carbohydrate accumulation and ovary swelling. The objectives of the present work were to determine night temperature and source-sink effects on ovary swelling, net carbon exchange rate (CER), and soluble sugar and starch concentrations in bell pepper ovaries at anthesis. Source-sink and temperature effects were tested by comparing fruiting (low source-sink ratio or high sink demand) with non-fruiting (high source-sink ratio or low sink demand) ‘Legionnaire’ bell pepper plants grown at 22/20 °C [high night temperature (HNT)] or 22/12 °C [low night temperature (LNT)] day:night temperatures. Flowers that opened after imposition of the temperature and fruiting treatments were harvested at anthesis. Ovaries from harvested flowers were weighed and analyzed for non-structural carbohydrates. Leaf gas exchange measurements were performed every 3 days. Ovary fresh weight of flowers harvested at anthesis was highest in non-fruiting plants under LNT and lowest in plants grown under HNT regardless of fruiting status. Mean CER averaged over the experimental period was significantly higher in fruiting plants under HNT compared with all other treatments. There were no significant interactions between night temperature and fruiting status on ovary soluble sugar or starch concentrations. Low night temperature increased glucose, fructose, and starch concentration and decreased sucrose concentration in the ovary wall compared with HNT. There were no differences in soluble sugar or starch concentrations in the ovary wall between fruiting and non-fruiting plants. Thus, although both low temperature and high source-sink ratio (i.e., non-fruiting plants) resulted in ovary swelling, the mechanisms appear to differ. Whereas LNT effects on ovary swelling were associated with increased ovary carbohydrate accumulation, this association was not apparent when ovary swelling occurred in response to high source-sink ratios.