Capsicum Breeding: History and Development

Capsicum or chili peppers were predominantly domesticated first in America and was introduced from there to rest of the world by Columbus. Capsicum breeding initially started as selection from wild species for different purposes and further improvement was based on the art of selection. With time, the breeding for crop improvement became more scientific and classical methods like mass selection, pedigree method, single-seed descent method, backcross, and hybridization are currently being utilized for capsicum improvement. Genetic diversity of capsicum is large, allowing alternatives to several new gene rearrangements. Capsicum fruits have high nutritional value, bringing benefits to consumer’s health. This fact has contributed to increase the market and consumption of capsicum in the world. Search for capsicum genotypes with increased yield, disease and abiotic stress resistance and improved quality is the goal in capsicum breeding programs. Lately, new strategies for improvement like mutation breeding, polyploidy, haploid breeding, embryo rescue, and utilization of molecular markers have been used in capsicum breeding. With continuous advancement in molecular technologies, it is becoming an essential tool which when combined with traditional selection and crossing techniques can result in significant progress in already established capsicum genetic breeding program.