PEPPER, GREEN
Capsicum spp., family SolanaceaeThe green garden vegetable or bell peper (C. annuum L.) comprises the major acreage of peppers in the United States. The well-known small and burningly pungent tabasco type (C. frutescens L.) is grown principally in Louisiana (Boswell 1937). (See also "Black Pepper.")
Green peppers were grown on an estimated 50,350 acres in 1971, the crop having a valuation of $52.3 million. Florida was the leading State with 13,700 acres, followed by New Jersey (8,100), North Carolina (8,100), California (7,100), and Texas (6,800). Various other States produced less than 2,000 acres of this crop. Boswell et al. (1952) stated that about 50,000 acres were devoted to production of sweet or bell peppers (fig. 150) and 12,000 to 15,000 acres to the hot or pungent cultivars, so the acreage seems relatively stable.
The fruit is consumed, according to its pungency, in salads, cooked dishes, pickled or powdered, or in sauces.
Rosengarten (1969*) defined paprika (fig. 151) as the dried, ground pods of ripe (red) pepper without the central placenta; chili powder as ground ripe pepper with oregano, cumin, garlic, etc.; and cayenne pepper as ground, whole, small, ripe fruits. Capsaicin, obtained from pepper, is used in the manufacture of ginger ale.
[gfx] FIGURE 150. - 'California Wonder' bell pepper, with flowers and fruit.
FIGURE 151. - Type of sweet pepper often used in making paprika or ornamental strings of dried pepper.Plant:
Pepper is a perennial woody plant, but because it is easily killed by frost it is usually cultivated in rows, as an herbaceous annual. The plant is 2 to 4 feet tall, erect, but many-branched and compact. The fruit is picked each few days as the individual pods approach mature size but before they ripen.
Inflorescence:
The pepper flower, 3/8 to 5/8 inch across, is usually whitish but may be tinged with purple. It is usually solitary in the axils of the branches or leaves, but occasionally there are small clusters of flowers. It has five stamens with bluish anthers (not united as in the tomato) and a single stigma that may vary from slightly shorter than the anthers to much longer (fig. 152). The corolla is somewhat bell- to wheel- shaped and white in C. annuum, but greenish white in C. frutescens (Smith and Heiser 1951).
The flower opens within the first 2 hours after sunrise and is open less than 1 day (Erwin 1931). The anthers may open from 1 to 10 hours after the flower opens, but frequently they fail entirely to dehisce (Murthy and Murthy 1962). Hirose (1957) stated that tabasco pepper flowers dehisce more slowly than other peppers. Nectar is produced and accumulates in the nectary at the base of the ovary. The quantity depends on many factors, an important one being the cultivar involved (Martin et al. 1932). The flowers are visited by bees for both the nectar and the pollen (Erwin 1932, Markus 1965, Odland and Porter 1941), but the attractiveness of the flowers to bees is comparatively low, and visitation is influenced by relative attractiveness of competing plants.
[gfx] FIGURE 152. - Longitudinal section of flower of bell pepper, x 2.
Pollination Requirements:
The pollination requirements for maximum production of the different cultivars of pepper is not clear. Jones and Rosa (1928*) stated that "Self-pollination takes place, in general, but there appears to be a considerable percentage of cross-pollination also, for many hybrids have been noticed as a result of growing different varieties near each other." Hawthorn and Pollard (1954*) implied the same thing. Cobley (1956*) concluded that both self and cross-pollination occurred for which he gave credit to ants. Dempsey (1961) found no difference in set of open flowers and those caged in special cone cages. Cochran (1936) stated that flowers emasculated and bagged set fruit as well as open-pollinated flowers, which without qualifications is difficult to accept. Later, however, he (1938) conceded that cross-pollination takes place more frequently than is generally supposed. Martin and Crawford (1951), Peterson (1958), and Shifriss and Frankel (1969) reported male sterility in peppers, which is accentuated by higher temperatures (Bashir 1953). Hirose (1959, 1962) reported that high temperatures 13 to 17 days before anthesis causes pollen abortion and the deterioration of pollination efficiency. Odland and Porter (1941) found that none of the varieties tested were entirely self- fertilized and concluded that there is more cross-pollination than is generally realized.
Erwin (1932) measured the effect of pollination on set of fruit. He found that only 46 percent of self-pollinated flowers set compared to 71 percent that were left to open pollination by bees. Nagarathnam and Rajamani (1963) obtained only 6 to 11 percent set of the flowers present. Angeli (1957) reported that hybrid pepper ripens earlier, produces more, and is more disease resistant than the parents. He also stated that production of seed by open pollination was unsatisfactory because of the lack of insect pollinators.
Cochran (1932) reported that high nitrogen and low soil moisture at flowering time increase set, but high nitrogen and high moisture increase production.
The period of receptivity of the stigma has not been too well determined, but apparently it functions only the first day the flower opens.
Smith (1932) noted that few tomato flowers with elongated styles develop normally and set fruit. As previously mentioned, the pepper style varies in length also. Quite conceivably, in the absence of pollinating insects, the long style would prevent pollen from the anthers reaching the stigma, and fruit setting would be prevented or reduced. Markus (1965) noted that crossing occurred primarily between 7 and 11 a.m.
The evidence indicates that pepper flowers do not always release their pollen, or if it is released, it may not come in contact with the stigma. Under such conditions, the transfer of pollen between flowers by an outside agency is essential.
Pollinators:
Boswell (1937) stated that peppers are cross-fertilized to a considerable extent but did not state what agencies were responsible. Although ants are frequently mentioned in relation to pollination of peppers, their type of activity, the lack of a dense coat of hairs on their body, and their limited number in relation to the blossoms present in a commercial planting, would indicate that they have received more credit as pollinators of pepper than they deserve. Honey bees and other bees visit the flowers of pepper on warm bright days (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*) or during dry periods (Erwin 1931, 1932; Markus 1964; Odland and Porter 1941; Pammel and King p. 605, 1930*).
Other members of the family Solanaceae are noted for their low attractiveness to bees, for example, potatoes, tobacco, eggplants, and petunias, although when other sources of nectar or pollen are scarce these plants may be visited. This would appear to apply to peppers also. Wind, rain, and other insects appear to be of little or no value in the pollination of peppers.
Pollination Recommendations and Practices:
None.
LITERATURE CITED:
ANGELI, L.
1957. [YIELD TRIALS WITH HETEROTIC RED PEPPER.] Kertesz. Kutato Int. Evk. 2: 131-140 [In Hungarian.] Abstract in Plant Breed. Abs. 29(3): 561. 1959.BASHIR, C. M.
1953. SOME POLLINATION STUDIES ON CHILLIES. Agr. Pakistan 3: 125-128.BOSWELL, V. R.
1937. IMPROVEMENT AND GENETTCS OF TOMATOES, PEPPERS AND EGGPLANT. U.S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1937: 176206.DOOLITTLE, S. P., and PULTZ. L. M.
1952. PEPPER PRODUCTION. DISEASE AND INSECT CONTROL. U.S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bul .2051, 30 pp.COCHRAN, H. L.
1932. FACTORS AFFECTING FLOWERING AND FRUITSETTING IN THE PEPPER. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 29: 434-437.______ 1936. SOME FACTORS INFLUENCING GROWTH AND FRUITSETTING IN THE PEPPER (CAPSICUM RUTESCENS L.). N.Y. (Cornell) Agr. Expt. Sta. Mem. 190, 39 pp.
______ 1938. FLOWER AND SEED DEVELOPMENT IN PEPPER. Jour. Agr. Res. 56: 395-420.
DEMPSEY, A. H.
1961. IMPROVED TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROLLED POLLINATIONS OF PEPPER. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci . Proc. 77: 449-451.ERWIN. A. T.
1931. ANTHESIS AND POLLINATION OF THE CAPSICUMS. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 28: 309.______ 1932. THE PEPPERS. lowa Agr. Expt. Sta. Bul. 293, pp.120-152.
HIROSE, T.
1957. [STUDIES ON THE POLLINATION OF PEPPER. L] Saikyo Univ. Faculty Agr. Sci. Rpt. 9: 5-12. [In Japanese, English summary.]______ 1959. [STUDIES ON THE POLLINATION OF PEPPER. II]. Kyoto Prefectural Univ. Faculty Agr. Sci. Rpt. 11: 31-37. [In Japanese, English summary.]
______ 1962. [STUDIES ON THE POLLINATION OF PEPPER. III.] Kyoto Prefectural Univ. Faculty Agr. Sci. Rpt. 14: 45-50. [In Japanese, English summary.]
MARKUS, P.
1964. [INVESTIGATIONS ON CROSS-FERTILIZATION IN RED PEPPER FOR SPICE.] Hungarian Agr. Rev. 13(4): 750. [In Hungarian.] Abstract in Plant Breed. Abs. 35: 4921, 1965.MARTIN, J. A., and CRAWFORD, J. H.
1951. SEVERAL TYPES OF STERILITY IN CAPSICUM FRUTESCENS. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 57: 335.______ERWIN, A. T., and LOUNSBERRY, C. C.
1932. NECTARIES OF CAPSICUM. Iowa State Col. Jour. Sci. 6: 227-285.MURTHY, N. S. R., and MURTHY, B. S.
1962. NATURAL CROSS POLLINATION IN CHILI. Andhra Agr. Jour. 9(3): 161-165.NAGARATHNAM, A. K., and RAJAMANI, T. S.
1963. STUDIES ON FRUIT SETTING IN CHILLIES (CAPSICUM ANNUUM LINN.). Madras Agr. Jour. 50(3): 138-139.ODLAND, M. L., and PORTER, A. M.
1941. A STUDY OF NATURAL CROSSING IN PEPPERS (CAPSICUM FRUTESCENS). Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 38: 585-588.PETERSON, P. A.
1958. CYTOPLASMICALLY INHERITED MALE STERILITY IN CAPSICUM. Amer. Nat. 92(863): 111-119.SHIFRISS, C., and FRANKEL, R.
1969. 1969. A NEW MALE STERILITY GENE IN CAPSICUM ANNUUM L. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Proc. 94: 385-387.SMITH, O.
1969. RELATION OF TEMPERATURE TO ANTHESIS AND BLOSSOM DROP OF THE TOMATO, TOGETHER WITH A HISTOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE PISTILS. Jour. Agr. Res. 44: 183-190.SMITH, P. G., and HEISER, C. B., JR.
1951. TAXONOMIC AND GENETIC STUDIES ON THE CULTIVATED PEPPERS, CAPSICUM ANNUUM L., AND C. FRUTESCENS L. Amer. Jour. Bot. 38: 362-368.
