S03 - Session P1 - Presence of gibberellins in habanero pepper seeds

Authors: Homero Ramirez *, Aaron Melendres, Alejandro Zermeño, José ngel Villarreal, Diana Jasso

Mexican habanero pepper ( Capsicum chinense L.) cultivation is expanding worldwide, mainly as a result of its high economic value and nutritional contribution to mankind. The presence of endogenous gibberellins in the seeds of several vegetable crops has been related to a good germination; however, little is known about their role in habanero pepper. The objective of this study was to search on the presence of endogenous gibberellins and to quantify their content in habanero pepper seeds. The experiment was conducted at the Department of Horticulture, Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Mexico, during 2020-2021. Batches of 50 grams dry weight of 'Mayan EK' habanero pepper seeds were used, which were lyophilized and prepared with various organic solvents for the extraction, purification and identification of gibberellins by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The presence of gibberellins in seeds was analyzed in groups of solvent solutions with three technical replicates using a completely randomized design and the results were analyzed with the statistical program RStudio. The data obtained were subjected to a comparison of means with Tukey's test (P≤0.05). Gibberellins A 1 , A 4 , A 7 , A 9 , A 15 , A 17 and A 44 were found in seed tissue. Gibberellins A 1 , A 4 and A 7 were consistently present during the seed imbibition period and its content was higher than the rest of gibberellins. It is concluded that gibberellins A 1 , A 4 , A 7 , A 9 , A 15 , A 17 and A 44 are present in habanero pepper cv 'Mayan EK'