Determination of Relationships Between Fruit Maturity Stages, and Seed Development and Quality in Aji Pepper (Capsicum baccatum var.pendulum)

This study was conducted to determine the relationships between the seeds harvested at different fruits maturity stagesand the seed development and quality in Aji pepper (Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum). The fruits were harvested atgreen ripe (1), breaker (2), orange ripe (3), red ripe (4) and over red ripe (5) maturity stages in 2011 and 2012 vegetationseasons. Seed moisture content was changed between 37.2% and 69.0% based on development stage, and over maturity stage had the lowest moisture content of 37.2% and 39.0% in both years, respectively. Germination rate was between 0% and 94% with the maximum of 94% in 2011 and 79% in 2012. The average germination time ranged from 4 to 13 days. The seedling emergence rate was between 1% and to 97% with the maximum of 97% in 2011 and 76% in 2012 that the average seedling emergence time changed between 7 and 18 days. Seedling length ranged from 3.0 to 5.7 cm, seedling fresh weight ranged from 122.75 to 255.00 mg and seedling dry weight ranged from 8.75 to 33.66 mg. The results showed that the seed quality increased as maturity level progressed, and the best fruit harvest date was red ripestage for maximum seed quality in Aji pepper.