Analysis on Agronomic Characters and Quality of Erjingtiao Varieties in Different Production Areas of Sichuan

Abstract

【Objective】A comprehensive evaluation on germplasm resources of high-quality local Erjingtiao pepper varieties in Sichuan was conducted, with a view to giving full play to their roles in new variety breeding and industrial processing.【Method】Erjingtiao pepper varieties from nine different production areas of Sichuan including Jianyang, Fushun, Xichong, Mianyang, Santai, Jiajiang, Shuangliu, Huidong and Qionglai were selected as the research materials, and their agronomic traits, nutritional quality indexes and flavor characteristics were comprehensively evaluated by field observation, quality detection and electronic nose analysis.【Result】In terms of agronomic traits, there were significant differences among different varieties in the node of first flower, main stem height, stem diameter, plant height, crown length, crown width, leaf length and leaf width. The mean values were 6.83~12.67, 18.08~27.33 cm, 9.08~15.39 mm, 98.17~141.5 cm, 86.33~136.67 cm, 69.75~117.50 cm, 9.62~15.86 cm and 2.74~4.56 cm, respectively. The differences in the appearance of different varieties of fruits were relatively small, the fruit shape indexes were all above 10, with red mature fruits, glossy fruit surface, soft fruit texture and wrinkled fruit skin, which were the typical fruit characteristics of Erjingtiao pepper. However, there was a great difference in fruit length among different varieties, with the longest fruit length of Qionglai Erjingtiao (25.02 cm) and the shortest fruit length of Huidong Erjingtiao (11.23 cm). However, the difference of fruit width was little, ranging from 1.08 to 1.76 cm. In terms of nutritional quality, there were significant differences among different varieties. The variable coefficients were between 8.35 to 45.72, of which capsaicin content had the greatest difference, with the highest content in Qionglai Erjingtiao (0.54 mg/g), and the lowest one in Xichong Erjingtiao (0.13 mg/g). However, except for Jianyang Erjingtiao, with the lowest color value of only 7.35, there was no significant difference in color value among other varieties. Meanwhile, there were some correlations among different quality indexes, and soluble sugar was significantly positively correlated with total protein and Vc, which was conducive to screening pepper varieties with high nutrition. The first three varieties of Erjingtiao with better comprehensive quality traits were selected by membership function analysis. The Qionglai Erjingtiao, ranking first, belonged to the high-spicy and high-nutrient variety, followed by Shuangliu Erjingtiao and Xichong Erjingtiao, belonged to the varieties of medium-spicy and low-spicy with high nutrition, respectively. The fruit flavor characteristics of different Erjingtiao varieties were similar, and only some varieties could be distinguished by electronic nose, but the flavor of the pulp and seed of the same pepper variety could be distinguished well.【Conclusion】The varieties of Erjingtiao pepper in different production areas of Sichuan have formed various agronomic traits and quality characteristics through long-term natural and artificial selection, and they can be screened according to different needs in the process of germplasm resources utilization and product selection