In situ characterization of morphological diversity of wild pepper Pico de paloma (Capsicum frutescens L.) in Tabasco, Mexico

Abstract

Chili pepper is currently one of the most important vegetable crops worldwide. The objective of this work was to carry out the in situ collection and characterization of the morphological diversity of the dove’s beak wild chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. We collected 66 samples in the field in 2014, and we recorded in situ data of 25 of plant, flower, and fruit variables. A principal component (PC) and cluster analysis were conducted on the 12 variables with the highest descriptive values. The first three PC explained 52.47 % of the total variation between collections; the variables that contributed most to the variation were: were leaf length and width, plant height, plant width, stem diameter, fruit length, and fruit weight. Through cluster analysis, four groups were formed in the dendrogram of the selected variables.