Abstract:

To protect and develop Qinghai Ledu long pepper, a local vegetable germplasm resource, this study determined the differentiation of four Ledu long pepper strains (LD1, LD2, LD3 and LD4) by comparing the agronomic traits, and explored the steps to protect and utilize the resource. The main findings are summarized as follows: (1) by comprehensive evaluation, the agronomic traits of LD1 are the highest to 0.55, followed by LD2 of 0.54, LD3 of 0.34 is the lowest; (2) the agronomic traits’ variations among the four Ledu long pepper strains are significant, and the germplasm differentiation is obvious, which needs purification, regeneration and innovation urgently; the variation coefficient of the yield per plant and the weight per fruit of different strains of pepper are relatively high, which is 19.61% and 19.70%, respectively, followed by that of the pulp thickness, which is 16.56%, and the fruit longitudinal diameter variation coefficient is the smallest, which is 3.08%; (3) the pepper yield is extremely significantly and positively correlated with the number of fruits per plant, pulp thickness and per fruit weight. The pepper per fruit weight is significantly and positively correlated with the pulp thickness and the transverse diameter of commercial fruits. Therefore, increasing the number of fruits per plant, the fruit transverse diameter and pulp thickness should be considered to improve the germplasm of Ledu long pepper by purification and innovation.

Key words: Ledu long pepper, agronomic traits, coefficient of variation, germplasm differentiation, comprehensive evaluation