Association of biochemical constituents with anthracnose resistance in chilli

Colletotrichum species is considered as amajor fungal pathogen that can cause economic damage in commercial chilli production because of its ability to infect fruits both at pre- and post-harvest stages. Results obtained from the Fourier transform near-infrared spectrophotometer in chilli genotypes indicated that, there is a significant difference among the chilli genotypes for both quantitative and qualitative traits. Furthermore, capsaicin and oleoresin contents have a significant linear relationship with resistance to anthracnose at red fruit stage. Incidentally, chilli genotypes that are moderately resistant to anthracnose were significantly superior in capsaicin and oleoresin contents and fruit yield. Hence, capsaicin and oleoresin content can be used as an indirect method to predict anthracnose resistance in chilli breeding.