Underutilized Capsicum pepper diversity in its Andean centre of

origin

Advances in high-value differentiation

Maarten van Zonneveld, Marleni Ramirez, David Williams, Michael Petz, Sven Meckelmann, Teresa Avila, Carlos Bejarano, Llermé Rios, Mathias Jaeger,

Dimary Libreros, Karen Amaya, Xavier Scheldeman

August 6, International Crop Science Congress, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil

Hypothesis

PurposeTake advantage of the growing demand for differentiated, high-value foods and ingredients by focusing on Capsicum peppers in Peru and Bolivia as a model for enhancing the use of under-exploited crop diversity and the benefits derived by small-scale farmers who produce them.

Enhancing the use of native and neglected crop diversity will increase in situ conservation of agrobiodiversity and will result in higher incomes, more sustainable production systems and other benefits for small-scale farmers.

How…

Understand and conserve diversity

Identify promising material

Identify markets and understand value chains

Multi-actorplatforms

Good agricultural and post-harvest practises

How…

Hohenheim University, Department of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (Germany)

Hannover University, Institute of Environmental Economics and Global Trade (Germany)

Wuppertal University , Department of Food Chemistry (Germany)

Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) (Peru)

Fundación PROINPA (Bolivia)

Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas de Pairumani (CIFP) (Bolivia)

Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos (ITA) (Bolivia)

Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (UNALM) (Peru)

Multi-disciplinary team

Bolivia: centre of Capsicum origin

Neotropical origin, at the moment 40 Capsicum species described according GRIN taxonomy

Project focus on Bolivia and Peru

Capsicum baccatum

Capsicum annuum

Capsicum chinense

Capsicum frutescens

Five cultivated species

Capsicum pubescens

Peru: centre of cultivated Capsicum pepper diversity

C. annuumC. baccatumC. chinenseC. pubescens

Mercado Puerto MaldonadoMercado Iquitos

C. chinenseC. frutescens

Understand and conserve diversity

Identify promising material

In each country:• A geographically representative ex situ collection

• Taxonomic identification, morphological and molecular characterization

• Selection of 100 accessions representative for taxonomic and ecogeographic diversity for biochemical screening

• Selection of 40 promising material representative for the wide range of functional attributes for further field evaluation

• Selection of 15 elite material with commercial attributes

Ex situ conservation

Peru: 711 accessions including germplasm of the 5 cultivated species (299 C. Pubescens accessions)

Bolivia: 494 accessions including germplasm of the 5 cultivated species and 7 wild relatives

Species: Capsicum annuum

Region: Lambayeque

Selection criteria:

-Agromorfological promising characteristics

- ají cerezo type

- Representativeness of C. annuum

Tasting:

Delicious, tasteful, braised beef aroma, pungent

Examples of promising material

Species: Capsicum chinense

Region: San Martín

Selection criteria:

ají charapita type

Tasting: subtle, aromatic, low pungency, good colour, rich of flavours

Examples of promising material

Capsaicinoids

mg/100g

Polifenols

g/100g

TEAC mmol/100g

Vit. Cmg/100g

Fat g/100g

ASTA 20.1

h Quercetinmg/100g

1391 2.70 7.7 24 10.9 25 65.1 26.6

LPI-PUC (pucunucho) Foto: Daniela Hirsh

Sample arrival in Wuppertal and analyses in 2011

PROINPA, ITAPairumani 114

CIDRA 23

INIA 19

UNALM 25

ICTA 38

__________________Sum 225

Between 450 and 550 samples expected to be analyzed in 2012 including Mexican samples

Influence of drying and grinding on important attributes

Vitamine C

Antioxidative cap.

Polifenols

Capsaicinoids

Extractable color (ASTA 20.1)

Fresh

Freeze-dried

30°C oven-dried

50°C oven-dried

Boxplot presentation

Minimum

25 %

50 % = Median

75 %

Maximum

allsamples

Concentration

or

Intensity

or

.

.

.

.

Region NumbersPeru INIA 25Peru CIDRA 23Peru UNALM 25Bolivia 114Guatemala 38

Capsaicinoids(mg/100g)

Total polyphenols(g/100g) Region Numbers

Peru INIA 25Peru CIDRA 23Peru UNALM 25Bolivia 114Guatemala 38

Fat (g/100 g) Region Numbers

Peru INIA 25Peru CIDRA 23Peru UNALM 25Bolivia 114Guatemala 38

Multi-site evaluation Identification of elite material with commercial attributes uniquely performing in specific environments

Still to be finished before the end of the project (February 2013)

• Use and evaluation of promising material by farmers and entrepreneurs for development of high-value products

• Identification in each evaluation site of elite material with commercial attributes

• Completion of biochemical analysis to understand variation of biochemical attributes between different environments

• Molecular characterization of ~800 accessions with 16 microsatellites to better understand intra-specific diversity

Thank youMaarten van Zonneveld

m.vanzonneveld@cgiar.org