Capsicum Peppers: A Vital Crop for Korea

摘要

Although capsicum pepper (Capsicum annuum) is an introduced plant (Bosland and Votava, 2000), it is now one of the most important vegetables in the Korean peninsula. Based on the economic value of the industry, capsicum or chili pepper is the second most important crop after rice, the major staple food crop for Koreans, Capsicum peppers in Korea have a very narrow genetic diversity due to restricted consumer preferences. With the exemption of a few cultivars grown for their fresh fruits, almost all cultivars are cultivated for dried red fruits with varying degrees of pungency (Lee et al,, 2003).