Fruit Morphology as Taxonomic Features in Five Varieties of Capsicum annuum L. Solanaceae

Abstract

Variations in the fruit morphological features of Capsicum annuum varieties were studied. Varieties studied include var. abbreviatum, var. annuum, var. accuminatum, var. grossum, and var. glabriusculum. The fruit morphology revealed attenuated fruit shape with rounded surfaces in var. glabriusculum, and cordate fruit shape with flexuous surface in var. annuum, abbreviatum and accuminatum. The fruit is a berry and may be green, yellow, or red when ripe. The fruit epidermal cell-wall patterns are polygonal in shape with straight and curved anticlinal walls in all the five varieties. The fruit of var. abbreviatum and var. grossum is trilocular, while that of var. accuminatum and annuum is bilocular, and that of var. glabriusculum is tetralocular. Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum had the highest mean number of seeds (108.4) and var. annuum had the lowest number of seeds (41.3) per fruit. The fruit is conspicuously hollowed in var. glabriusculum, accuminatum, and annuum but inconspicuously hollowed in var. abbreviatum and var. grossum. These features are shown to be good taxonomic characters for delimiting the five varieties of Capsicum annuum.