C04392

C04392 is a Bolivian wild Capsicum chacoense accession held in the genebank of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan. The accession was already circulating in specialist seed lists by 2007, placing it firmly in preserved germplasm and collector seed networks rather than in the named commercial cultivar stream.

This accession belongs to the small-fruited wild chacoense type. Published work that included C04392 grouped it with Capsicum chacoense material characterised by small circular fruit, and broader species descriptions of chacoense match that form with compact to low, heavily branched shrubs, broad leaves, white flowers, and ripe red fruit. Fruit on chacoense plants is commonly described as small, roundish to triangular, with ripe pods around 10 to 25 mm long, although some descriptions extend to about 30 mm.

C04392 has appeared in formal research as a Bolivian accession in cytoplasmic studies, where it was recorded as a Type 4 line, showing that it has been used as reference germplasm in scientific work and not only in hobby seed exchange. It was also included in Korean anthracnose screening, where C04392 was listed among the highly susceptible Capsicum accessions tested against Colletotrichum scovillei.

As a Bolivian wild pepper, C04392 sits within the broader chacoense tradition of small, spicy red peppers tied to bird dispersal ecology in South America. Research on Capsicum chacoense from southeast Bolivia showed that birds feeding on the ripe red fruit help disperse the seed and improve seed survival, which fits the ecological role expected for a wild Bolivian accession like C04392 rather than a domesticated market pepper selected for uniform harvest traits.