COMPARATIVE STUDY ON POLYPHENOLS CONTENT, CAPSAICIN AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT HOT PEPPERS VARIETIES (CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.) UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THESSALY REGION, GREECE.

Gougoulias, Nikolaos; Wogiatzi, Eleni; Vagelas, Ioannis; Giurgiulescu, Liviu; Gogou, Ioanna; Ntalla, Maria-Nektaria; Kalfountzos, Dimitrios

Seven red hot peppers varieties grown in Central Greece, have been studied for evaluating and comparing their polyphenols content, the capsaicin content and antioxidant properties. It has been established that TP and the capsaicin content of the red hot varieties move in broad ranges depending on the variety and, to a lesser extent with the ecological conditions and soil chemical properties. The total phenols were expressed as gallic acid equivalent (GAE). The highest content of total phenol (TP) has been found in the Uganda variety with a value 1700 μg (GAE) g-1 FW, and the lowest in the Rainbow variety with a value 907.4μg (GAE) g-1 FW.The highest content of flavonoid phenols has been found in the Uganda variety with a value 1156 μg (GAE) g-1 FW, and the lowest in the Rainbow variety with a value 571.7 μg (GAE) g-1 FW.The highest content of capsaicin has been found in the Cayenne variety with a value 1775μg g-1 FW, and the lowest in the Tomatini variety with a value 539.2 μg g-1 FW.The antioxidant activity FRAP for the pepper fruits is varying from 13.2 to 24.9 μmol(equivalent ascorbic acid)g-1FW. The FRAP value was highly correlated with total phenol content (r2 = 0.8607). While, there is no linear correlation between the amount of capsaicin and of the antioxidant capacity.

HOT peppers; PEPPER varieties; PLANT polyphenols; CAPSAICIN; THESSALY (Greece)

Carpathian Journal of Food Science & Technology, 2017, Vol 9, Issue 1, p109

2066-6845

Academic Journal