Genetic analysis on nutritional characteristics of Chilli (Capsicum annuumL.) varieties available in Bangladesh

The fruits of seven cultivated varieties of, chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) va r. abbreviatum, acuminatum, annuum, cerasiformis, conoides, fasciculatum an d nigra were analysed biochemically at green and ripe stages grown in two s ets of experiments for vitamin C, beta-carotene, protein, lipid and capsaic in. The chemical characters showed a wide range of distribution without any distinguishable groups, indicating that they are quantitative in nature an d are under polygenic control. In the analysis of mean of varieties, cerasi formis and annuum exhibited the highest amount of vitamin C in green chilli es and beta-carotene in ripe chillies, respectively; while fasciculatum was the best for protein and capsaicin in ripe chillies and conoides was the b est for lipid in ripe form, The heritability values were estimated to be lo w in general, however, broad sense heritability was higher for protein in r ipe chillies and beta-carotene in green and ripe form; therefore, selection breeding experiment with the varieties like, annuum, cerasiformis, conoide s and fasciculatum may yield good results as they exhibited better performa nces for the biochemical parameters studied.