Endogenous Hormones in Habanero Pepper Seeds

Aims: Habanero pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivation is growing worldwide, mainly as a result of its high demand and nutritive contribution to human society. The presence of endogenous gibberellins and cytokinins in seeds of various vegetable crops has been related to a good germination; however, little is known on habanero pepper. The aim of this study was to search for the presence, identification and amount of gibberellins and cytokinins in seeds of habanero pepper cv “Jaguar”.

Study design: Laboratory analysis for gibberellins and cytokinins were organized in solvent solutions groups with three technical replicates using a complete randomized design and results when applicable were analyzed using the statistical program 'RStudio' (version 10) and data obtained subjected to a comparison of means with the Tukey (P≤0.05) test.

Place and duration of study: The experiment was conducted at the Department of Horticulture in Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Mexico, during 2020-2021.

Methodology: Lots of 50 grams dry weight of “Jaguar” habanero pepper seed samples were freeze dried and prepared with several organic solvents for the extraction, purification and identification of gibberellins and cytokinins using the techniques of GC-MS and GCMS-SIM respectively.

Results: Gibberellins A1, A4, A7, A9, A15, A17 and A44 were found in habanero seed tissue. The cytokinins zeatin and zeatin-riboside were also detected in analyzed habanero samples.

Conclusion: The endogenous gibberellins A1, A4, A7, A9, A15, A17, A44, and the cytokinins zeatin and zeatin-riboside are present in habanero pepper cv “Jaguar” contributing to an improve seed viability, ensuring health and overall plant yield.