TY - JOUR AU - Amador Mendoza, Adolfo AU - Gomez Raymundo, Rosalba Guadalupe AU - Ramírez Seañez, Ana Rosa AU - Hernández Hernández, Hipolito AU - Palacios Torres, Rogelio Enrrique AU - Martínez Galero, Nelda Xanath AU - García Muñoz, Miguel Ángel AU - Zilli Gutiérrez, Saribel PY - 2026 TI - Growth and Yield Responses of Soledad Chili Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to the Application of Chitosan and Bacillus subtilis JO - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany SN - 0031-9457 SP - 10 VL - 95 IS - 1 AB - The cultivation of Soledad pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is essential in Oaxaca and Veracruz, but it faces issues with pests and diseases, which affect yield and cause economic losses. To mitigate these impacts, farmers have started using biostimulants such as chitosan and plant growth promoting bacteria instead of agrochemicals due to their environmental and health benefits. This study evaluated the effect of Bacillus subtilis and chitosan, both individually and combined, on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of Soledad pepper under greenhouse conditions. Four treatments were applied at different stages of the crop cycle: Q (Chitosan), BS (Bacillus subtilis), Q + BS (Chitosan + Bacillus subtilis), and T (Control). The results showed that the combination of chitosan and Bacillus subtilis significantly improved plant growth, especially in height and stem diameter. The chitosan treatment produced the highest number of fruits and plant weight, while the combination of chitosan and Bacillus subtilis enhanced fruit quality, increasing characteristics such as size, weight, pericarp thickness, and physicochemical parameters, notably in brix degrees, citric acid percentage, and pH, outperforming the individual treatments and the control. UR - https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.073856 DO - 10.32604/phyton.2025.073856