COMPARACIÓN DE MÉTODOS PARA MEDIR CARACTERÍSTICAS FOLIARES Y EVALUACIÓN DEL CONTENIDO DE CLOROFILA EN DIEZ ACCESIONES DE ROCOTO DEL BANCO DE GERMOPLASMA DEL INIA, PERU

<p><strong>Background: </strong>The rocoto pepper (<em>Capsicum</em> <em>pubescens</em>), native to the Andes, is a species of great importance in Peru, both in agriculture and gastronomy, especially in the department of Arequipa. <strong>Objective:</strong> To compare the accuracy and relationship between the methods of measuring leaf area, length, width and perimeter using ImageJ software and the portable meter CI-202, as well as to evaluate the chlorophyll content with the SPAD 502 Plus in ten accessions of rocoto pepper. <strong>Methodology:</strong> Tests of normality and homogeneity of variances were carried out for the leaf and chlorophyll variables. Then, ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05) were applied to compare accessions, in addition to a Pearson correlation analysis. To compare the leaf area measurements with ImageJ and CI-202 with the product of leaf length and leaf width, a linear regression model was used, in the same way leaf area and chlorophyll content were compared. <strong>Results:</strong> Accessions PER1002862 and PER1002844 showed the highest values in all parameters, while PER1002960 and PER1002949 had the lowest, except for chlorophyll, where PER1002821 recorded the lowest value. The CI-202 portable meter obtained a higher coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>=0.9919) than ImageJ (R<sup>2</sup>=0.984) when comparing leaf area with the product of length and width. <strong>Implications:</strong> The study evaluates the accuracy of ImageJ and CI-202 in leaf measurement and its relationship with chlorophyll content in <em>C. pubescens</em>. <strong>Conclusions: </strong>Both methods, ImageJ and CI-202, were effective for leaf measurement; However, the CI-202 was more efficient due to its speed in data collection and processing. Chlorophyll content varied among accessions, without relation to leaf area.</p>