Evaluation of the Growth and Yield Characteristics of Six Domestic Sweet Pepper Cultivars

Most sweet pepper cultivars cultivated in the northern region of South Korea are cultivars that were selected for winter harvesting (cropping) in the southern region despite differences in cultivation environments and growing periods between the two regions. This study aimed to investigate whether six domestic sweet pepper cultivars, three red (‘632’, ‘ARO-2’, and ‘HeraRed’), two yellow (‘719’ and ‘ARO-4’), and one orange (‘ARO-5’) cultivar, are suitable for summer harvesting in the northern region of Korea. One red (‘Nagano’), two yellow (‘WLS1380’ and ‘Allrounder’), and one orange (‘DSP7054’) cultivars were used as control cultivars. Marketable yields ranged from 3.3 to 5.0 kg/plant, and the yellow ‘Allrounder’ cultivar showed the highest marketable yield, followed by ‘WLS1380’ and ‘Nagano’ at 4.7 kg/plant. Among the red cultivars, ‘HeraRed’ and ‘632’ performed decently in terms of marketable yields compared to the control cultivar ‘Nagano’. Yellow ‘719’ underperformed compared to ‘Allrounder’ but performed comparably to ‘WLS1380’. Orange ‘ARO-5’ showed a higher total yield than the control ‘DSP7054’, but it produced a significantly higher nonmarketable yield. There were significant differences in various growth parameters at the early developmental stage, but such differences did not correlate with the marketable yield. A partial correlation analysis of fruit traits revealed a strong positive correlation between fruit weight and the number of locules, whereas the sugar content and pericarp thickness had a strong negative correlation. These relationships among fruit traits could be utilized as indicators when evaluating fruit qualities.