Effect of Phenylalanine and Nitrogen on accumulation of Capsaicin alkaloid and some physiological parameters in two pepper Capsicum annuum L cultivars

Abstract

The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse belongs to Department of Biology / faculty of Education for Girls / University of Kufa for the season 2016-2017. The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Amino acid Phenylalanine and nitrogen on accumulation of Capsaicin and other contents in the fruits of two pepper Capsicum annuum L cultivars, chilli and sweet namely Ninar and Mystro respectively. Factorial experiment in Completely Randomized Design (C.RD) with three replicates for each parameter was used, and the means were compare using Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at the probability level of 0.05.  The experiment included 5 treatments  i.e. the interaction between two pepper Mystro and Ninar cultivars sweet and chilli respectively with five spray treatments T1 control treatment(distilled water), T2, T3 Phenylalanine at concentration of 100 and 200 ppm respectively, T4, T5  Nitrogen at concentration of  200 and 300 ppm respectively . The Results from this study show that T3 treatment (200ppm Phenylalanine) affected positively on enhancing all the parameters under study, in term of Phenylalanine, Valine, Capsaicin, Dihydrocapsaicin and Vitamin C. Maximum values for these traits were found in Ninar chilli pepper 551.7 mg. g -1 dry weight, 380.7 mg. g -1 dry weight, 1266.1 mg. g -1 dry weight, 719.1 mg. g -1 dry weight, 426.5 mg. g -1 fresh weight. Moreover, highest pungency level was found in Ninar cultivar (20257.6 SHU) which classified as moderately pungent based on pungency scale.