Determination of Capsaicin Content and Pungency Level of Different Fresh and Dried Chilli Peppers

Abstract

One of the traditional plants that have so many pharmacological effects is chilli fruit (Capsicum sp.) that belong to the family Solanaceae. Around the world, five varieties of Capsicum are known, i. e., C. annuum, C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. baccatum, and C. pubescens. Chilli peppers are known for causing the sensation of heat or burning when consumed. The heat sensation is incited by the type and the amount of a group of capsaicinoids; the alkaloids found only in chilli pepper pods. A widely used heat measurement of chilli peppers is the SHU (Scoville Heating Unit). This measurement is the highest dilution of a chilli pepper extract at which heat can be detected by a taste panel. Nowadays, the Scoville organoleptic test has been largely replaced by chromatographic methods which are considered to be more reliable and accurate. The HPLC (High Pressure Liquid Chromatography) method was used for the determination of capsaicin content in various fresh and dried peppers from the genera C. chinense. Currently, based on the results of HPLC, the hottest pepper has been Bhut Jolokia, followed by Habanero Red Savina and Habanero Yellow etc. The content of capsaicin in dried chillies is 7-10 times higher compared to fresh ones.

Low-cost microphysiological systems: feasibility study of a tape-based barrier-on-chip for small intestine modeling

“…For our study, we select two nominal apical capsaicinoid levels: 600 μM (the focus for Transwells) and 900 μM (the focus for devices)the rough equivalent of eating (and efficiently digesting) a very hot habanero chili pepper on an empty stomach. 53,54 While the untargeted single-level LC/MS does not allow for quantification, it does allow us to infer approximate (order- of-magnitude) relations between nominal and effective concentrations. Due to the qualitative nature of this analysis, we will however continue to refer to nominal doses throughout the subsequent sections.…”

Low-cost microphysiological systems: Feasibility study of a tape-based barrier-on-chip system for small intestine modeling

“…For our study, we select two nominal apical capsaicinoid levels: 600 µM (the focus for Transwells) and 900 µM (the focus for devices) -the rough equivalent of eating (and efficiently digesting) a very hot habanero chili pepper on an empty stomach. [29,30] While the untargeted single-level LC/MS does not allow for quantification, it does allow us to infer approximate (order-of-magnitude) relations between nominal and effective concentrations. Due to the qualitative nature of this analysis, we will however continue to refer to nominal doses throughout the subsequent sections.…”

“…Our lowered effective doses in devices roughly correspond to eating a habanero chili pepper on a full stomach. [29,30]…”

The Fate of Physico-Chemical Characteristics and Antioxidant Properties in Dried and Roasted ‘Super Hot’ Chili Fruit

“…Both the CAP and DHC contents were also observed to be higher than those of the fresh chilies irrespective of temperature and time. Additionally, dried Habanero Red Savina chilies had a high CAP content, which was related to its high pungency (Popelka et al 2017). In 'Super Hot' chilies, both the CAP and DHC contents were on average ve times higher in the dried than in the fresh chilies, which showed that the pungency increased upon drying.…”

“…In chilies, drying temperature and drying time in uence not only chemical properties (e.g. bioactive compound contents) but also physical and biological properties which play an important role in the variation of bioactive compound contents in dried chilies (Popelka et al 2017). Phenolic compounds, capsaicinoid contents, and antioxidant activity in dried chilies were A Minolta CR-400 colorimeter (New Jersey, USA) was used to determine the surface color of the samples (L*, a*, and b* values).…”