Open Access

ARTICLE

Growth and Yield Responses of Soledad Chili Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to the Application of Chitosan and Bacillus subtilis

Adolfo Amador Mendoza^1,*, Rosalba Guadalupe Gomez Raymundo², Ana Rosa Ramírez Seañez¹, Hipolito Hernández Hernández¹, Rogelio Enrrique Palacios Torres¹, Nelda Xanath Martínez Galero³, Miguel Ángel García Muñoz³, Saribel Zilli Gutiérrez^4,*

1 Instituto de Agroingeniería, Universidad del Papaloapan Campus Loma Bonita, Av. Ferrocarril s/n, CD. Universitaria, Loma Bonita, C.P. 68400, Oaxaca, México
2 Programa de Maestría en Producción y Porcesamiento Agricola, Instituto de Agroingeniería, División de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad del Papaloapan Campus Loma Bonita, Av. Ferrocarril s/n, CD. Universitaria, Loma Bonita, C.P. 68400, Oaxaca, México
3 Instituto de Química Aplicada, Universidad del Papaloapan Campus Tuxtepec, Circuito Central #200, Colonia Parque, Industrial, Tuxtepec, C.P. 6830, Oaxaca, México
4 Programa de Doctorado, División de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad del Papaloapan Campus Tuxtepec, Circuito Central #200, Colonia Parque Industrial, Tuxtepec, C.P. 6830, Oaxaca, México

* Corresponding Authors: Adolfo Amador Mendoza. Email: ; Saribel Zilli Gutiérrez. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Endophytic Microbiota: Prospects and Challenges for Application Towards Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Management)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2026, 95(1), 10 https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.073856

Received 27 September 2025; Accepted 01 December 2025; Issue published 30 January 2026

Abstract

The cultivation of Soledad pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is essential in Oaxaca and Veracruz, but it faces issues with pests and diseases, which affect yield and cause economic losses. To mitigate these impacts, farmers have started using biostimulants such as chitosan and plant growth promoting bacteria instead of agrochemicals due to their environmental and health benefits. This study evaluated the effect of Bacillus subtilis and chitosan, both individually and combined, on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of Soledad pepper under greenhouse conditions. Four treatments were applied at different stages of the crop cycle: Q (Chitosan), BS (Bacillus subtilis), Q + BS (Chitosan + Bacillus subtilis), and T (Control). The results showed that the combination of chitosan and Bacillus subtilis significantly improved plant growth, especially in height and stem diameter. The chitosan treatment produced the highest number of fruits and plant weight, while the combination of chitosan and Bacillus subtilis enhanced fruit quality, increasing characteristics such as size, weight, pericarp thickness, and physicochemical parameters, notably in brix degrees, citric acid percentage, and pH, outperforming the individual treatments and the control.

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Keywords

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