Open Access

ARTICLE

Morphological diversity of wild and semi-wild chili populations of Tabasco and the north of Chiapas States, Mexico

Gálvez Muñoz YA¹, E Martínez Moreno², S Ramírez Vera², L Latournerie Moreno³, JM Lesher Gordillo¹, G Castañón Nájera^1*

1 División Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco. Carretera Villahermosa-Cárdenas, entronque Bosques de Saloya, kilómetro 0.5, Villahermosa, Tabasco, C.P. 86040, México. tel. 993-3-54-43-08.
2 División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa. Kilómetro 25, Villahermosa, Tabasco, C.P. 86120, México.
3 Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Conkal. Kilómetro 16.3 Antigua Carretera Mérida-Motul, Conkal, Yucatán, México.

* Address correspondence to: Guillermo Castañón Najera, e-mail: ; Yasmín Araceli Gálvez Muñoz, e-mail:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2018, 87(all), 60-67. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2018.87.060

Abstract

The research was conducted with the aim to identify the variability in situ of wild and semi-wild morphotypes of Capsicum spp. that were found growing in different places of Tabasco and the north of Chiapas States. Morphotypes included “Amashito” (five types), “Pico de paloma” (two types), “Garbanzo”, “Ojo de sapo”, “Ojo de cangrejo”, “Colmillo de lagarto” and “Corazón de pollo”. Such characterization is important because there is an extensive variability of forms cultivated in the country, resulting from a wide range of agroecological diversity as well as diverse forms, colours, flavors and sizes that constitute a valuable collection of genes and a valuable contribution to gastronomy. We measured qualitative traits like leaf colour, leaf shape, calyx margin, stem colour, stem shape, plant growth habit, branching habit, flower position, fruit colour and fruit shape. Quantitative variables such as plant height, stem diameter, number of flowers per axil, fruit lenght, fruit width and number of seeds per fruit were also registered. From the first Principal Component Analysis (PCA), nine variables were selected as the most discriminant. A second PCA was performed with these selected variables and a cluster analysis (CA) was also performed. The three first principal components explained 58.27% of the total variation. The cluster analysis ordered the population of chilies in contrasting groups. These were grouped by species, locality of identification and the superiority of any (or some) traits that were common in every group.

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Keywords

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