RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCE OF GENOTYPE ON KEY FRUIT MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN PAPRIKA PEPPER GROWN IN HIGH TUNNELS

In Romania, paprika pepper has been grown since the nineteenth century, introduced by Bulgarian gardeners who had a tradition of maintaining fruit shape and uniformity. In western Romania, the first paprika crops were established around 1923 in the Timișoara region (Cenadul Mare, Tomnatic, Lovrin). The biological material used in the three research years (2022, 2023, and 2024) consisted of six paprika genotypes ('Bolero F1', 'Fono F1', 'Palotas F1', 'Szegedi 80', and 'Szikra F1'). Morphological traits were assessed through biometric measurements: fruit length with and without peduncle, fruit diameter, and fruit weight. The paprika genotypes tested and analyzed show strong phenotypic diversity in their morphological traits. For fruit weight, highly significant differences are evident in the hybrids 'Fono' and 'Palotas', compared with the genotypes 'Szegedi 80' and 'Szikra F1'. Highly significant positive correlations were identified between fruit length and shape index in the genotypes 'Bolero F1' and 'Szegedi 80', and between fruit diameter and fruit weight in the hybrids 'Palotas' and 'Szikra'.