Effect of Drought Stress on Capsaicin and Antioxidant Contents in Pepper Genotypes at Reproductive Stage - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2021 Jun 24;10(7):1286.

doi: 10.3390/plants10071286.

Rashid Mehmood Rana 1, Sunny Ahmar 2, Saima Saeed 1, Asma Gulzar 1, Muhammad Azam Khan 3, Fahad Masoud Wattoo 1, Xiukang Wang 4, Ferdinando Branca 5, Freddy Mora-Poblete 2, Gabrielle Sousa Mafra 6, Xionming Du 7

Affiliations

Effect of Drought Stress on Capsaicin and Antioxidant Contents in Pepper Genotypes at Reproductive Stage

Tahir Mahmood et al. Plants (Basel). 2021.

Abstract

Pepper is one of the most important vegetables and spices in the world. Principal pungency is contributed by secondary metabolites called capsaicinoids, mainly synthesized in the placenta of pepper fruit. Various factors, including drought, limit pepper production. Flowering is one of the most sensitive stages affected by drought stress. The current study was conducted to determine the effect of drought on different pepper genotypes at the flowering and pod formation stages. Hot pepper (Pusajuala and Ghotki) and Bell pepper (Green Wonder and PPE-311) genotypes were subjected to drought (35% field capacity) at two different stages (flowering (DF) and pod formation (DP) stage). In comparison, control plants were maintained at 65% field capacity. The data regarding flowering survival rates, antioxidant protein activity, and proline content, were collected. Results indicated that parameters like flower survival percentage, number of fruits per plant, and fruit weight had significant differences among the genotypes in both treatments. A high proline level was observed in Green Wonder at the pod formation stage compared to other genotypes. Capsaicin contents of hot pepper genotypes were affected at the pod formation stage. Antioxidants like GPX were highly active (190 units) in Ghotki at pod formation. Bell pepper genotypes had a high APX activity, highly observed (100 units) in PPE-311 at pod formation, and significantly differ from hot pepper genotypes. In the catalase case, all the genotypes had the highest values in DP compared to control and DF, but Pusajuala (91 units) and Green Wonder (83 units) performed best compared to other genotypes. Overall, the results indicate that drought stress decreased reproductive growth parameters and pungency of pepper fruit as most of the plant energy was consumed in defense molecules (antioxidants). Therefore, water availability at the flowering and pod formation stage is critical to ensure good yield and pepper quality.

Keywords: ROS; antioxidant; capsaicin; drought; metabolomics; pepper; reactive oxygen species.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Hierarchical clusters and dendrogram of pepper genotypes and studied traits. Hierarchical clusters indicating three major clusters, including C1, C2, and C3 of pepper genotypes, also indicate two major groups (G1 and G2) of studied triat.

Figure 2

Figure 2

PCA, biplot, and correlogram of antioxidants and production traits in four hot and bell pepper genotypes under three different environments. (a–c) biplot distribution of four pepper genotypes under three different conditions. (d) correlogram of antioxidants and production traits. According to the color scheme, red indicates the cluster of genotypes under control, green under D(F), and blue under D(P).

Figure 3

Figure 3

Flower survival percentage. Means of three repetitions for each genotype with the same letters indicate the same means, and different letters indicate significant differences. Vertical bars represent the standard error of means (bars = ±se). Bars without letters represent non-significant means (LSD p < 0.05). DF = water stress at the flowering stage, DP = water stress at the pod formation stage.

Figure 4

Figure 4

The number of fruits per plant. Means of three repetitions for each genotype with the same letters indicate the same means, and different letters indicate significant differences. Vertical bars represent standard error of means (bars = ±se) (LSD p < 0.05). DF = water stress at the flowering stage, DP = water stress at the pod formation stage.

Figure 5

Figure 5

Fresh (a) and dry (b) fruit weight. Means of three repetitions for each genotype with the same letters indicate the same means, and different letters indicate significant differences. Vertical bars represent the standard error of means (bars = ±se). DF = water stress at flowering stage, DP = water stress at the pod formation stage.

Figure 6

Figure 6

Proline contents of chili fruits. Means of three repetitions for each genotype with the same letters indicate the same means, and different letters indicate significant differences. Vertical bars represent standard error of means (bars = ±se) (LSD p < 0.05). DF = water stress at flowering stage, DP = water stress at the pod formation stage.

Figure 7

Figure 7

Ascorbate peroxidases (APX), catalase (CAT), and guaiacol peroxidases (GPX) activity of chili fruits. Means of three repetitions for each genotype with the same letters indicate the same means, and different letters indicate significant differences. Vertical bars represent standard error of means (bars = ±se) (LSD p < 0.05). DF = water stress at flowering stage, DP = water stress at the pod formation stage.

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