Quality characteristics of different red pepper cultivars (Capsicum annuum L.) for hot paprika production

Twelve hybrids obtained by crossing of different Hungarian cultivars and the Spanish ‘Jaranda’, ‘Jariza’ and ‘Jeromín’ have been studied. The aim of this work was to select those peppers with high capsaicinoids content, and good agronomic and industrial characteristics, as ‘Jeromín’, the only local cultivar used for pungent (hot) paprika, has a low and irregular pungency depending on the year. The crop productive characteristics, ASTA colour, carotenoid pigment content and pungency of the paprika has been studied and elaborated following the traditional procedure of La Vera (Extremadura, Spain). The productive characteristics and pigment concentration of the crossings were, in general, similar to that of local cultivars, and all of them could be suitable for hot paprika production, because their capsaicinoid content was higher than that of ‘Jeromín’ (78 mg kg−1 dwt of total capsaicinoids). The most pungent hybrids were Kibedicsipos × Jariza, Jeromín × Szegedi178 and Jaranda × Szegedi179, with a total capsaicinoid content of 1,240, 1,107, and 997 mg kg−1 dwt, respectively. Their paprikas showed a carotenoid pigment content higher than that of ‘Jaranda’, which is considered as a high quality paprika.