GENETIC DIVERGENCE IN HOT CHILLI (CAPSICUM CHINENSE JACQ.)

摘要

Hot chilli (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is characterized by a typical flavour and aroma and noted for the high oleoresin and capsaicin content. Breeding crop plants adopting hybridization as a tool is one of the most important crop improvement methods. The success of hybridization programme is mainly dependent on the genetic diversity of the parents chosen. Kerala is blessed with diverse soil and climatic conditions that have helped in the development of different landraces of hot chilli having wide genetic divergence. Since very little work has been done in this species, an effort was made to assess the genetic divergence among the available hot chilli landraces of Kerala.