Morphological characterization of F3 lines of Capsicum baccatum L. species

Pepper is a vegetable that is consumed lovingly both in the world and in our country, rich in vitamins and minerals and beneficial for human nutrition. This thesis study is the first hybridization study in our country in which two genotypes (MKU-92 and MKU-19) belonging to the Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum species are used as parents. It is noteworthy that pepper fruits of this species have been sold as fresh peppers in some market stalls in recent years. For this reason, in this study, which was started in order to develop a variety from this species belonging to our country, fruit and plant characteristics of some F3 lines were examined. In the study, a total of 30 morphological features, 22 quantitative and 8 qualitative, were used to characterize the parents and lines. As a result, when the quantitative properties are examined; Average cotyledon length of the parents and lines used in this study is 1.53 2.40 cm, cotyledon widths are 0.73-1.13 cm, plant heights are 54.8-95.9 cm, plant crown widths are 42.5-69.0 cm, plant first bifurcation heights are 30.1-44.7 cm, leaf areas are 39.13-84.30 cm2. It was determined that fruit lengths of 36.39-104.62 mm, fruit thicknesses of 1.65-3.12 mm, Scoville bitterness values between 9262-99654 showed a wide variation in most of the features. It is seen that there is a wide variation in terms of immature and mature fruit color among quantitative characteristics. As a result, a wide variation was created with this breeding program as the parents used in this study were phenotypically different from each other. Each line in this variation has been found to be usable in pepper breeding programs for traits that are targeted to be developed in terms of fruit characteristics and chemical (specific compounds, water-soluble dry matter and bitterness) content.