Morphological characterization of selected cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) accessions in southwest Nigeria

Pepper is a widely cultivated and utilized spice crop worldwide. It is commonly used in soups and as a condiment to add flavour and colour to food items and contains abundant sources of natural micronutrient antioxidants. The main goal of this work was to characterize cayenne pepper using morphological markers.  For this purpose, fifty-seven accessions of cayenne pepper were collected from different regions in Southern and Northern Nigeria, where the cayenne pepper has been grown for some years. The selected accessions were planted at the Teaching and Research Farm, The Federal University of Technology, Akure between December 2020 and April 2021. Data collected on agronomic parameters, which include the number of fruits harvested, fruit weight, fruit length, number of seeds and seed weight, and colour of fruit at maturity, were subjected to multivariate analyses. Results showed that fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit weight, seed weight and number of fruits harvested are traits that most characterize the accessions. Accessions T40, T45, T13, T56, T81, T16, T12 and T15 are most distinct from other pepper accessions. Accession T13 performed best in terms of fruit weight. Accessions T2 and T17 performed best in terms of fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit weight and seed weight. Accession T45 performed best in terms of fruit diameter, number of fruits harvested, seed weight and fruit weight. Further studies on this work are recommended using another location.