Comprehensive evaluation method of pepper quality and key meteorologi-cal influencing factors
In order to explore the comprehensive evaluation methods of pepper quality and the key meteorological factors affecting pepper quality,cultivation experiments were carried out in four main pepper producing areas of Majiang in Guizhou,Yanshan in Yunnan,Changsha in Hunan and Shizhu in Chongqing with three pepper varieties(Zhuojiao 52,Jiaoyang 6 and Layan 12)as experimental materials,and the quality indices of pepper were determined.The key meteorological factors affecting the quality of pepper were determined by correlation analysis,principal component a-nalysis and stepwise regression.The comprehensive evalu-ation model and climate quality evaluation model of pepper quality were established,and the advantages of climate re-sources in the four main pepper producing areas were compared.The results showed that there were great variations in the quality indices of three pepper varieties planted in four planting sites.The variation coefficients of dihydrocapsaicin content,capsanthin content and capsaicin content in pepper were all above 50%,while the variation coefficients of reducing sugar content,amino acid content,crude fat content and crude fiber content were all within 20%.The comprehensive evaluation of the quality of Zhuojiao 52 planted in Yanshan County,Yunnan province was the best,while the quality of the three pep-per varieties planted in Majiang County,Guizhou province was better than that of the other three planting areas.The quality indices of pepper screened according to the principal component load values were capsaicin content,dihydrocapsaicin con-tent and crude fat content.The key climatic factors affecting the quality of pepper were the average relative humidity and to-tal precipitation from planting to harvest.The principal component scores of meteorological factors in four planting sites be-longed to four quadrants,while the principal component load values of seven meteorological factors belonged to three quad-rants.Among them,the average relative humidity and total precipitation of the key meteorological factors related to pepper quality were located in the second quadrant,which was consistent with the principal component score of meteorological fac-tors in Majiang County,Guizhou province.It indicated that the meteorological conditions of Majiang in Guizhou were condu-cive to improving the quality of pepper.The results of this study provide a basis for further high-quality cultivation,quality evaluation and planting regionalization of pepper.