Abstract
Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the major vegetable crops grown worldwide largely appreciated for its economic importance and nutritional value. The aim of study is to be assessing the G2P-Sol pepper core collection including 414 accessions from four cultivated Capsicum species to Verticillium dahliae Kleb. infestation. The use isolates VdCa13, VdCa15, VdCa17, VdCa18, VdCa19 and VdCa21, originally isolated from Capsicum annuum in the Plovdiv region, were used for inoculum. The strongest manifestation of the disease is found in accession GPC 118230 (88.54%). Among the evaluated tested accessions, 85 do not show any symptom of the disease. The average degree of attack by V. dahliae Kleb. is the highest in C. frutescens – 25.70%, and the lowest in C. chinense – 13.62%. The maximum attack index is reported in C. annuum – 89.58%, while C. annuum, C. baccatum and C. chinense all have a lack of infection. The standard deviation varied from 8.54 to 17.60. The coefficient of variation is the highest in C. annuum (106.25%), and the weakest in C. frutescens (39.08%).
The percentage distribution of the tested accessions according the attack index of all examined materials is as follows: C. annuum represented 94.43%, C. baccatum – 1.77%, C. chinense – 2.78% and C. frutescens – 1.01%.
Keywords: Capsicum sp., attack index, Verticillium wilt