Division of Botany, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-12
The content of the alkaloid, capsaicin and its component characters— the proportion of capsaicin secreting tissue in the fruit and the efficiency of such secretory tissue—has been studied in 12 chilli varieties and significant variation shown to exist in respect of all the three characters. The two component characters have been shown to be capable of varying independently of each other and it is, therefore, suggested that capsaicin content in the fruit should be treated as being under polygenic control. The implications of such independent variability in breeding for high capsaicin types has been considered.
