2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Small/miniature sweet and hot peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) are a rapidly growing class of specialty peppers. The peppers are popular among consumers because of their versatility, snackability, vibrant colors and their nutrition attributes. While field production of traditional pepper commodities is in decline in parts of the country, other parts including snack peppers are expanding greenhouse acreage for high-value specialty pepper production. A relatively small number of commercial snack cultivars with acceptable uniformity have been developed. Additional research is needed to improve product uniformity, fruit quality and shelf-life. Low seed count is an important attribute for consumer acceptance of snack peppers. Seed count within populations exhibiting small round, blunt, and lobed snack size pods was scored and typified by several discreet classes defined by high, reduced and low seed numbers. Seed count was not correlated with fruit shape and segregated independent of pod type. Inheritance of low seed count in the specialty snack pepper market class will be discussed. Our results demonstrate that via extensive selection, low seed count can be combined with snack size pods, superior fruit shape, thick pericarp, and sweetness on plants with compact habit for garden culture and on large stature plants that maximize yield for commercial production.