Determination of bioactive components in selected varieties of pepper (Capsicum L.)

The objective of this paper was to examine the total polyphenols, vitamin C and capsaicin contents of pepper (varieties: Garam F1, Alma, Poseidon, Promontor, Slovakia, Claudius, Bhut Jolokia, Serrano, and Candlelight) and their correlation with the antioxidant activity by using the high performance liquid chromatography and Folin-Ciocalteu method. The limit of detection for capsaicin was 0.09 µg.g−1.Vitamin C and capsaicin ranged from 95.76 to 2,139 and from 44.40 to 2,224 μg.g−1 dry matter (DM), respectively. The determined total polyphenol content (TPC) ranged from 4,230 to 9,939 mg GAE.kg−1 DM and the values of antioxidant activity (AA) determined by using DPPH •, FRAP and ABTS • + methods were in range 19.48–91.81, 19.08–61.46 and 15.72–65.70 μmol TE.g−1 DM, respectively. Based on the statistical evaluation, there was a high correlation between vitamin C content and antioxidant activity of peppers. The obtained results suggest that due to the composition of bioactive compounds, especially antioxidants, the consumption of pepper fruits is an ideal choice for the prevention of the cell damage.