Figures (6)  Tables (6)

    • Figure 1. 

      Changes in seed dry weight during fruit development stages in sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited). Error bars represent the standard deviation of three biological replicates (n = 3).

    • Figure 2. 

      Changes in seed length and width during fruit development stages in sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited). Error bars represent the standard deviation of three biological replicates (n = 3).

    • Figure 3. 

      Schematic diagram illustrating the horizontal and vertical sectional classification of seeds attached to the placental tissue in fully mature sweet pepper fruit (cultivars 'Lyker' and 'Volidano') at 50 DAA, designed to investigate the effect of seed positional attachment on germinability.

    • Figure 4. 

      Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showing ultrastructural changes in the internal morphology of sweet pepper seeds ('Lyker', red-fruited) at 10, 30, and 50 d after anthesis (DAA). The images illustrate progressive developmental transitions during seed maturation.

    • Figure 5. 

      Fruit development stages and schematic hormone dynamics in sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited). (a) Representative fruit images at 10, 30, and 50 DAA showing developmental progression from immature to mature stage. (b) Schematic illustration of relative changes in major phytohormone levels (ABA, zeatin, IAA, JA, SA, and GA) during fruit and seed development at corresponding stages.

    • Figure 6. 

      Developmental changes in Hunter L* (lightness), a* (redness), and b* (yellowness) values in the pericarp of red-fruited 'Lyker' and yellow-fruited 'Volidano' sweet pepper fruits at 10, 30, and 50 DAA.

    • Cultivar DAAz Fresh weight (g·fruit−1) Ratio of seed on total weight (%)
      Flesh Seed Total weighty
      Red sweet pepper 10 3.71cx 0.50b 4.21c 11.87a
      30 58.14b 1.61b 59.75b 2.69b
      50 204.77a 3.51a 208.28a 1.68b
      Yellow sweet pepper 10 5.48c 1.22c 6.70c 18.20a
      30 53.70b 1.91b 55.61b 3.43b
      50 176.62a 3.38a 180.00a 1.87b
      x Means within a column followed by different letters differ significantly at p ≤ 0.05 (Duncan's multiple range test). y Flesh weight refers to the weight of the fruit excluding the seeds located in the placental tissue. z Days after anthesis.

      Table 1. 

      Effect of fruit maturation stage on flesh weight, seed weight, and proportion of seed weight to total fruit weight in sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited).

    • Cultivar DAAz Fruit weight (g) No. of seeds
      Red ('Lyker') 10 7.0cy 237.6a
      30 69.7b 268.0a
      50 234.5a 289.0a
      Yellow ('Volidano') 10 10.4c 259.6b
      30 65.4b 243.2b
      50 201.2a 317.6a
      y Means within a column followed by different letters differ significantly at p ≤ 0.05 (Duncan's multiple range test). z Days after anthesis.

      Table 2. 

      Effect of days after anthesis (DAA) on fruit weight and number of seeds in sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited).

    • Cultivar DAAz Germination (%) T50 (d) Viability
      Normal (%) Abnormal (%)
      Red sweet pepper 50 88.0 2.1 7 d 59.0 0.0
      14 d 81.0 7.0
      Yellow sweet pepper 50 88.0 2.5 7 d 78.0 0.0
      14 d 81.0 7.0
      Seeds harvested at 10 and 30 DAA did not germinate; data are shown only for 50 DAA.

      Table 3. 

      Effect of DAA on germination percentage, median germination time (T50), and seedling quality of red ('Lyker') and yellow ('Volidano') sweet pepper at 25 °C.

    • Seed position Red cultivar Yellow cultivar
      Germination (%) T50 (d) Germination (%) T50 (d)
      Horizontal Top 98.0az 3.48b 94.6a 2.01b
      Middle 100.0a 3.48b 98.0a 1.98b
      Bottom 99.3a 3.70a 96.3a 2.42a
      Vertical Left 100.0a 2.92a 100.0a 2.01a
      Center 99.3a 2.98a 96.3a 2.10a
      Right 100.0a 2.75a 96.0a 2.08a
      z Mean separation within each column was performed using Duncan's multiple range test at p ≤ 0.05.

      Table 4. 

      Effect of seed position on the placenta, on germination percentage and median germination time (T50) of sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited) at 25 °C.

    • Cultivar DAAz ABA (ng·g−1) Zeatin (ng·g−1) IAA (ng·g−1) JA (ng·g−1) SA (ng·g−1)
      Red sweet pepper 10 437 ± 0.007 27.82 ± 0.003 40.9 ± 0.002 11,999 ± 0.817 366 ± 0.012
      30 1,339 ± 0.212 10.02 ± 0.001 67.7 ± 0.019 1,078 ± 0.165 290 ± 0.054
      50 1,338 ± 0.041 6.191 ± 0.001 −y 200 ± 0.021 454 ± 0.049
      Yellow sweet pepper 10 316.1 ± 19.0 18.23 ± 0.02 139.1 ± 17.7 7,161.7 ± 0.817 610.8 ± 6.0
      30 428.4 ± 316.3 8.40 ± 0.01 400.9 ± 23.2 1,842.3 ± 0.165 831.7 ± 19.1
      50 1,220.5 ± 21.1 5.1 ± 0.01 − 63.2 ± 46.2 151.3 ± 110.4
      C × D significancex ** * *** *** **
      x C × D = cultivar × DAA interaction (two-way ANOVA), where * is p < 0.05; ** is p < 0.01; and *** is p < 0.001. y Not detected. Below the limit of quantification (LOQ). Gibberellic acids (GA3, GA1, GA4, GA7) were analysed but were below the LOQ at all stages in both cultivars; therefore, those columns are not shown. z Days after anthesis; n = 23, data are shown as means ± standard deviation.

      Table 5. 

      The changes in abscisic acid (ABA), zeatin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), jasmonic acid (JA), and salicylic acid (SA) in seeds of red ('Lyker') and yellow ('Volidano') sweet pepper at 10, 30, and 50 DAA.

    • Cultivar DAAz Vitamin B1 (mg·kg−1) Vitamin B2 (mg·kg−1) Vitamin B5 (mg·kg−1) Vitamin B6 (mg·kg−1) Folic acid (mg·kg−1) Vitamin C (mg·kg−1)
      Red pepper 10 0.46 ± 0.01 0.8 ± 0.03 17.2 ± 1.6 0.89 ± 0.11 −y 51 ± 5.5
      30 0.34 ± 0.002 0.5 ± 0.02 9.3 ± 0.6 1.24 ± 0.07 − 428 ± 14.2
      50 0.29 ± 0.001 2.6 ± 0.3 8.8 ± 0.6 0.05 ± 0.01 0.22 ± 0.01 657 ± 74.8
      Yellow pepper 10 0.13 ± 0.02 0.46 ± 0.036 5.58 ± 0.66 − − 0.02 ± 0.002
      30 0.07 ± 0.005 0.13 ± 0.022 4.52 ± 0.10 − − 1.95 ± 0.077
      50 0.07 ± 0.01 0.21 ± 0.018 8.82 ± 0.65 − − 1.41 ± 0.106
      C × Dx * *** * *** *** ***
      x C × D = cultivar × DAA interaction (two-way ANOVA), where * is p < 0.05; ** is p < 0.01; and *** is p < 0.001. y Below the limit of quantification (LOQ). z Days after anthesis; n = 23, Values are expressed as means ± standard deviation.

      Table 6. 

      Changes in vitamin contents (B1, B2, B5, B6, folic acid, and vitamin C) in the pericarp of sweet pepper cultivars 'Lyker' (red-fruited) and 'Volidano' (yellow-fruited) at 10, 30, and 50 DAA.