Sodium azide-induced genetic variation of morphological traits in <i>Capsicum</i> accessions

This study evaluated the effect of sodium azide-induced mutagenesis on the growth performance of various Capsicum spp accessions. Significant variation was observed across growth traits: number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, plant height, stem girth, and canopy width. While some accessions, such as NGB00622 and NGB00601, failed to germinate, others exhibited notable performance disparities. NGB00703 emerged as the top-performing accession, excelling across multiple growth traits, followed by NGB002642 and NGB00701. Conversely, NGB02626 and NGB02730 displayed consistently poor growth metrics. Sodium azide-induced variants demonstrated marked improvements in growth traits compared to their controls, particularly in plant height, stem girth, and leaf dimensions. These enhancements were observed not only in high-performing accessions but also in low-performing ones, indicating the mutagen's potential to induce beneficial genetic variability. The findings underscore sodium azide’s utility in generating genetic diversity within Capsicum spp., providing a basis for future breeding and genetic improvement programs.