| Abstract
| - The quantitative inheritance of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents in fruits has been studied inan intraspecific cross of Capsicum annuum L. across two different environments, namely, fruitsdeveloped in spring and summer. A liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/time-of-flight massspectrometry [HPLC-ESI/MS(TOF)] method was used to identify and quantify capsaicin anddihydrocapsaicin in extracts of pepper fruits. The analytical method used was able to determine thepungency of genotypes that, using other methods, would have been classified as non-pungent.Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents varied largely among families, and families did not respondsimilarly in producing these capsaicinoids when their fruits were grown in spring and summer, withsome families showing no increase, whereas in others, the increase was more than 2-fold. Heterosisfor the pungency trait, assessed by the capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents in fruits, was found,indicating the existence of epistasis, over-dominance, or dominance complementation. Non-pungentparent alleles contributed to the capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents since transgressivesegregation did occur. Furthermore, the type of gene action varied between capsaicin anddihydrocapsaicin, and a seasonal effect during fruit development could affect gene action. Keywords: Capsaicin; dihydrocapsaicin; family−environment interaction; HPLC; intraspecific cross;mass spectrometry; quantitative inheritance
|
