Variation for Fruit Yield and Quality Characteristics in Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Germplasm Collection

Fifty-five sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) germplasm from the Rural Development Administration (RDA) were analyzed for their fruit yield and fruit quality characters, including fruit weight, fruit size, pericarp thickness, total soluble content, fruit lobe, fruit shape, fruit surface and fruit color. Fruit yield per plot ranged from 200 g to 8150 g (average, 1884 g). Fruit fresh-weight per fruit ranged from 27.3 g to 200.0 g with an average of 97.2 g. Fruit length varied from 4.0 cm to 16.2 cm (average, 9.6 cm). Fruit length-to-width ratio ranged from 0.6 to 3.0 with an average 1.7. The fruit pericarp thickness ranged from 1.8 mm to 10.7 mm (average, 4.8 mm). Total soluble content was the highest (8.5ºBrix) in K156286 and the lowest (5.3ºBrix) in K156208 with the average value 6.7ºBrix. Fruit lobes numbers varied from 2 to 4. Blocky, triangular, elongated, rectangular and round fruit shape identified among the sweet pepper accessions. Fruit surface varied from smooth to wrinkle and fruit color also varied. The presence of variability in fruit yield and quality traits within the sweet pepper genotypes can be utilized to develop high yielding sweet pepper variety with better fruit quality characters.