Biochemical descriptors: importance of the genetic divergence study in peppers

Abstract

The genetic diversity of pepper genotypes is usually evaluated based on morphological and molecular descriptors. However, studies using biochemical descriptors of peppers are still incipient. Thus, the objective of this study was identify biochemical descriptors of Capsicum spp. with antioxidant action, most responsive to the selection of superior genotypes, and evaluate the correlation between concentrations of the parameters using principal components analysis. The experiment was conducted in the city of Cáceres, southwest Mato Grosso, Brazil. Seventy-eight pepper accessions from the Active Germplasm Bank of UNEMAT were planted in randomized block design. The harvested fruits were immersed in liquid nitrogen for two minutes, and the following biochemical analyses were performed: titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and antioxidant activity. Biochemical descriptors that best estimated the genetic variability of the accessions were flavonoids, total phenols, chlorophyll a, and ascorbic acid. Chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were the compounds that showed the highest degree of correlation. Except chlorophyll a with ascorbic acid, all other vectors showed correlation ranging from moderate to strong.

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Valencian Pepper Landraces

“…Studies have shown a positive direct correlation between antioxidant potential and phenolic compounds content in pepper and other crops, such as grapes, eggplants, olives, and citrus, among others [ 19 , 26 , 47 , 69 ]. Araujo et al [ 70 ] reported that antioxidant activity correlated positively with several other variables, ranging from a strong to a weak correlation for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, titratable acidity, carotene, total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic acid. Materska and Perucka [ 38 ] highlighted the influence of phenolic profile and its relation to the number and positions of hydroxyl groups in aromatic rings, esterification or the free form of the analyzed compounds, and methoxy substituents in the ortho position to OH.…”

“…Other landraces of interest in ripe fruits were: P-39, as highlighted by its phenols, carotenoid, and DPPH values; P-35 and P-50 for their high carotenoid and lycopene contents, and excellent DPPH capacity. The PCA results generally showed the usefulness of the multivariate analysis for classification in studies with a great number of landraces and is a powerful tool in breeding programs for pepper and other crops used to describe and/or select cultivars with high added value [ 47 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ].…”

Caracterización morfoagronómica de la colección de germoplasma de ají dulce (Capsicum spp.) del caribe colombiano

“…Así mismo, el germoplasma de Capsicum ha sido objeto de diversos estudios de caracterización morfológica, agronómica, bioquímica, molecular y funcional entre otros, tanto a nivel mundial como en Colombia, a fin de identificar accesiones que sirvan como fuentes de genes en el mejoramiento de características para la resistencia a estreses abióticos y bióticos y de otros rasgos de interés (contenidos de capsaicina, carotenoides, formas, tamaños, colores, etc.) para las diferentes agroindustrias demandantes de ajíes (Villota-Cerón et al, 2012, Araújo et al, 2019Guzmán et al, 2019;Jesus et al, 2019;Mendes et al, 2019;Rahevar et al, 2019).…”