Evaluation of biochemical responses in pepper genotypes artificially inoculated with pepper leaf curl virus

Pepper leaf curl virus (PepLCV), a whitefly transmitted Begomovirus is a serious threat to chilli production. Resistant and susceptible genotypes were investigated for biochemical alterations after virus inoculation. The total phenol content across six genotypes ranged from 14.80 ± 1.98 to 55.85 ± 2.54 (mg/100 g FW). The amount of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity in the six genotypes ranged from 3.157 ± 0.010 to 6.505 ± 0.125 (μmol/min/g), 0.172 ± 0.004 to 0.545 ± 0.012 (min/g sample), 0.180 ± 0.016 to 0.573 ± 0.010 (min/g sample) and 0.224 ± 0.012 to 0.585 ± 0.031 (μmol H2O2/ mg protein) respectively. The total phenol content and enzymatic activities were significantly higher in resistant genotypes across time intervals and no statistically significant difference was observed between susceptible genotypes and control. Therefore, biochemical responses can serve as an indicator in screening of disease resistant genotypes.