Impact of plant density on capsaicinoid production of high pungent pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) under nethouse

Global climate changes are leading to increases in biotic and abiotic stresses that can cause lower crop production. Therefore, more efficient crop management is demanded. Nethouses can be used to protect hot pepper crops from unfavorable environments, and combined with modern agricultural practices, especially appropriate plant densities, will ensure maximum fruit yield per unit area. Therefore, to maximize capsaicinoid yield per unit area, two hot pepper cultivars that belong to Capsicum chinense Jacq., ‘Bhut Jolokia’ and ‘Akanee Pirote’ (F₁-hybrid) were grown in the rainy season to determine the effect of three plant densities, i.e., low, medium, and high, 11000, 15000 and 18324 plants ha^‑1, respectively, on yield, pungency, and capsaicinoid yield under nethouse conditions. ‘Akanee Pirote’ showed the highest fruit number plant^‑1 (265 fruit) and dry fruit yield plant^‑1 (174.96 g plant^‑1) at low plant density. However, the highest fruit number per area and dry fruit yield per area were obtained in ‘Akanee Pirote’ (2,963.6 g plant^‑1) at high plant density. Plant density did not influence the capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and total capsaicinoid content. Among cultivars, ‘Bhut Jolokia’ gave higher capsaicinoid content (1,229,993 SHU) than ‘Akanee Pirote’ (665,129 SHU). Additionally, the highest capsaicinoid yield was found in ‘Akanee Pirote’ at high plant density (103.98 g ha^‑1), which would be an appropriate plant density for high pungent cultivars for capsaicin extraction industries.