Most paprika farmers in Korea have grown bell-type paprika, mostly for export to Japan. However, continued long-term yen depreciation has worsened the export profitability of paprika, increasing domestic sales and decreasing farmers’ income. Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services developed ‘New Daon Red’ as a new mini paprika to replace some bell-type paprika cultivation to cope with the change. The maternal line, Trirosso, has deep orange conical fruits with good fruit set, while the paternal line, SBR970, exhibits red fruits and stable fruiting with strong vegetative growth. F₁ ‘New Daon Red’ was selected as an excellent cultivar for fresh consumption in 2018 from the on-site test that lasted 2 years starting in 2017. This cultivar showed similar plant height to the control ‘Raon Red’ but had larger leaves. The fruit weighed 71 g, 8% heavier than that of the control, with a longer and narrower shape. Fruits of ‘New Daon red’ had a sweetness level of 9 °Brix and were soft. The occurrence rates of blossom-end rot and skin cracking were 1.4% and 2.4%, respectively, in ‘New Daon Red,’ while they were 0.2% and 0.8% in ‘Raon Red.’ However, ‘New Daon Red’ had a 26% higher yield per land unit due to its better fruit set than the control cultivar. Therefore, it is expected that the high productivity of this cultivar, along with good fruit quality, could contribute to increasing farmers’ income (Registration No. 9684).

To improve farmers’ incomes by diversifying produce, Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services developed a highly productive mini paprika, namely, ‘Raon red.’ Since 2007, various genetic resources have been collected and bred to obtain pure line separations for crossbreeding purposes. In 2012, a cross combination between an orange-colored female parent ‘MBO 008’ and a red-colored male parent ‘SBR 970’ was selected among the diverse crossings. The characteristics of the resultant F1, named ‘Raon red’ in 2014, were verified through field tests conducted from 2013 to 2014. ‘Raon red’ plants grew with a similar vigor to ‘RD Glory’ (control). The fruit of this variety weighed 56 g, twice that of the control; in addition, it had a stable shape with a bright red color. The soluble solids of the fruits averaged 10.2 °Bx and 1.6 °Bx lower than those of the control. Additionally, the fruit was 29% firmer than that of the control, and its pericarp was 29% thicker. The yield per 10a of ‘Raon red’ was 5,035 kg, twice that of the control. Overall, this new cultivar is expected to increase the income of mini paprika growers because of its high productivity (Registration No. 6375).

Paprika (Capsicum annuum) cannot grow or set fruit in temperatures that are higher than the optimal level. This study assesses the characteristics of 52 paprika accessions introduced from the agrobiodiversity center and the world vegetable center during a high temperature period in order to develop heat tolerant lines. As a result of controlling the temperature in two greenhouses by side ventilation and fogging system, the average daily temperature of the high temperature regime was 34.3℃, which was 2.4℃ higher than that of the normal temperature regime. Plant height, stem diameter, fruit set, fruit weight, fruit shape, pericarp thickness, soluble sugar content, yield, and marketable fruit development rate were all investigated as vegetative and reproductive growth-related parameters. Plant height, fruit weight, pericarp thickness, and yield were all reduced during high temperature treatment. Six germplasm lines (T12, T15, T26, T29, T32, and T36) were selected as high-temperature tolerant lines based on these parameters. The selected lines will be used to breed heat-tolerant cultivars as well as crossbreeding for genetic analysis.

The color and functionality of paprika fruits (Capsicum annuum L.) are important factors that determine consumption preferences. Paprika contains a large amount of functional phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and polyphenols. In this study, the total polyphenol content by total phenol content (TPC) assay, antioxidant activity by 2,2’-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and total red pigment content by American spice trade association (ASTA) color were evaluated in a total of 93 commercial cultivars and germplasms of red paprika. In results, the total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity by ABTS and FRAP, and total red pigment content ranged from 6.35-11.84 mg GAE⋅g^-1 dry weight (DW), 19.80-44.84 mg trolox⋅g^-1 DW, 8.82-31.06 mg trolox⋅g^-1 DW, and 5.30-75.03 ASTA value, respectively. For each trait, there were 2, 31, 16, and 44 germplasms, respectively, which were higher than those of the commercial cultivars. The correlation analysis between the total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity (ABTS and FRAP) showed highly positive correlations, with r=0.69 and r=0.75, respectively. In contrast, the ASTA values showed very low negative correlations with ABTS (r=-0.15) and FRAP (r=-0.26). These results imply that the antioxidant activity in paprika was largely affected by the total polyphenol content but was hardly affected by the ASTA value. Accessions 30, 31, and 56 were selected with high red pigment content, and accessions 5, 21, 24, and 26 had high antioxidant activity as well as high polyphenol content. These germplasms will be useful for the development of new paprika varieties with high red pigment content or high antioxidant activity.