Cayenne/American pepper 301
16.3 Pod types and quality breeding goals............................................
Tremendous morphological variability exists for flower morphology, especially corolla
and anther colour and fruit colour, size, shape and pungency. Based on fruit size,
shape and degree of pungency, a large number of horticultural types are recognized
worldwide and at least 20 types are predominantly cultivated on a large scale in other
parts of the world. Some of these fruit types such as ancho, bell, jalapeño, pasilla,
New Mexican and yellow wax have a specific trait for processing, fresh use, flavour
and pungency (Bosland and Votava, 2000). The breeding objectives for quality traits
of hot pepper and sweet pepper could be described on the basis of five market types,
viz., (i) fresh market (green, red, multi colour whole fruits), (ii) fresh processing
(sauce, paste, canning, pickling), (iii) dried spice (whole fruits and powder), (iv)
oleoresin extraction and (v) ornamental (plants and/or fruits) (Poulos, 1994). The
current pepper breeding programmes have relied on a relatively narrow genetic base
within cultivars of various market types, although huge morphological diversity
exists within (intraspecific) and between (interspecific) species. This is because of (i)
traditional market demand for specific fruits size and shape and (ii) the use of pure
line or back cross breeding within open pollinated commercial varieties and development
of inbreds from the commercial hybrid and their utilization as recycled parental lines
(Poulos, 1994).
16.4 Uses in food processing.................................................................
Pepper is a most popular and widely used condiment all over the world. Fruits are
consumed in fresh, dried or processed forms, as table vegetable or spice. Fruits are
extensively pickled in salt and vinegar. Fruit carotenoids (colour), capsaicinoids and
flavour extracts are used in food, feed, medicine and the cosmetic industries. Sweet
peppers are widely used at green-immature or mature stage as a vegetable. The fruits
of the genus Capsicum have many versatile and innovative uses and diversity (Bosland,
1996; Dewitt, 1998; Bosland, 1999; Table 16.3).
16.4.1 Pungency (capsaicinoids)
The pungent-oily substances from the fruits of hot pepper were first discovered and
isolated by Bucholz in 1816 and the most active ingredient (named capsaicin) was
isolated by Thresh in 1846 (Govindarajan, 1986). The burning sensation (pungency)
one gets from eating pepper fruits is caused by alkoloids called capsaicinoids, which
are uniquely produced in Capsicum. Capsaicinoids are acid amides of C 9 -C 11 branched
chain fatty acids and vanillylamine. The pungency is expressed in Scoville Heat
Table 16.2 Distinguishable morphology of five cultivated species of Capsicum
Cultivated species Distinguishable morphology
C. annuum White corolla and white filaments
C. frutescens Yellow/greenish corolla and purple filaments
C. chinense Annular constriction on pedicel attachment and yellow/greenish corolla
C. baccatum Yellow or greenish yellow spots on corolla
C. pubescens Hairy stems/leaves and black/brown seeds