The objective of this study was to compare three methods to determine number of groups in studies with hierarquical cluster analysis, based at data from characterization of Capsicum accessions, in order to identify those with the greatest power of discrimination. Mojena method, Tocher method and RMSSTD method were applied to determine the optimal number of groups formed in final stage of the UPGMA method. Forty nine Capsicum chinense accessions from the Vegetable Germplasm Bank of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa were analyzed, in relation to ten morphological characters for identifying the most similar accessions group, making possible the selection of superior genotypes, i.e., of commercial interest. The RMSSTD method allowed to conclude on the existence of seven groups, with a greater power of discrimination for this method, compared to the Tocher optimization method and the Mojena method, which formed, respectively, four and three groups.
Capsicum chinense; Mojena method; Tocher method; RMSSTD
