Varied attributes of jalapeño pepper cultivars influence fresh-cut product quality

Authors: Park, Eunhee; Luo, Yaguang - Sunny; Zhou, Bin; Fonseca, Jorge; Stommel, John

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2024
Publication Date: 5/13/2024
Citation: Park, E., Luo, Y., Zhou, B., Fonseca, J.M., Stommel, J.R. 2024. Varied attributes of jalapeño pepper cultivars influence fresh-cut product quality. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 149(3):152-161. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05346-23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS05346-23

Interpretive Summary: In recent years, the fresh-cut product market has seen a steady rise in demand for minimally processed produce as consumers prioritize health and convenience. Use of pepper as a fresh-cut product is limited. We explored the potential for utilization of jalapeno pepper as specialty fresh-cut product. Evaluation of jalapeno cultivars and hybrids derived from crosses of diverse jalapenos revealed variation in shelf-life for jalapeno cultivars and their hybrids. Tissue decay, measured by electrolyte leakage from fruit tissue, as well as tissue softening and firmness attributes were useful indexes for determining freshness of fresh-cut jalapenos. The results also identified superior cultivars that passed along their positive fresh-cut attributes to hybrids, even in combination with inferior parent jalapeno lines. This research provides valuable information to breeders, the fresh-cut industry, and those involved in creating a pepper fresh-cut market.

Technical Abstract: In recent years, the fresh-cut product market has seen a steady rise in demand as consumers prioritize health and convenience. This has led to innovations in breeding, product selection, and packaging. Despite the increasing consumption of bell and chili peppers and the potential of creating a fresh-cut market, research on fresh-cut jalapeños peppers is scare. This study was conducted to identify suitable jalapeño cultivars for fresh-cut products. A total of 22 fresh-cut parameters were examined across 5 varieties of jalapeños peppers and ten intercrosses of these varieties, including visual quality based on image analysis via a computer vision system (CVS), gas composition, tissue membrane electrolyte leakage (EK), and texture. The accessions were grouped into 5 clusters using cluster analysis. Variables, such as tissue softening (r2 = 0.95), EK (r2 = 0.95), total energy of mesocarp (r2 = 0.95), and CO2 (r2 = 0.94) have a strong association with the cluster. Principal component analysis with biplots further confirmed the results. The first and second clusters showed good quality for fresh-cut applications. The fourth cluster showed lower quality and the worst was Jalapeño M (fifth cluster), which had the smallest physical size and a rapid decline in package life, accumulating carbon dioxide partial pressures, increasing EK, and fast tissue softening in comparison to the other accessions. All jalapeño accessions except ‘Jalapeño M’ maintained good quality until day 14, and some even until day 21 of storage. Hybrid crosses suggested that ‘Goliath’ and ‘Emerald Fire’ were useful as parents in transferring fresh-cut quality to progeny. Traditionally, the EK level has been used as an index of freshness (or deterioration). But our research showed that other measurements, such as tissue softening (imaging analysis), and firmness (physical analysis) can also be used as indexes for freshness of fresh-cut jalapenos.