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A comparative study of the capsaicinoid and phenolic contents and in vitro antioxidant activities of the peppers of the genus Capsicum: an application of chemometrics

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Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the contents of capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and total phenolics as well as of the antioxidant activities of six types of peppers of the genus Capsicum. The varieties were analyzed in terms of their in vitro antioxidant activity using ferric reducing antioxidant powder (FRAP), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azinobis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline 6-sulfonate (ABTS●+) assays. The contents of phenolics and capsainoids as well as the antioxidant activities were higher in seeds than in pulps. The correlations (ρ < 0.01) between the phenolic composition and the capsaicinoids levels were high (r = 0.98). Similarly high were also the correlations between the antioxidant activities and the contents of total phenolics and capsaicinoids. Data were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and multiple linear regression (MLR). PCA explained 97.77 % of the total variance of the data, and their separation into three groups in a scatter plot was divised. Using HCA, three clusters were suggested. Cluster one, formed by pulps (bell pepper, orange habanero, cayenne, dedo de moça and red habanero), showed the lowest levels of the compounds quantified. Most seed samples were grouped in cluster two (bell pepper, cayenne, dedo de moça and malagueta) together with malagueta pulp. Cluster three was formed by orange and red habanero seeds, which showed the highest levels of all compounds analyzed. The MRL revealed that the values of capsaicinoids and total phenols are more adequate to predict the antioxidant activity measured by the FRAP assay.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by UEM (Universidade Estadual de Maringá), UTFPR (Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná), CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico), and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Food Science for Graduated Students and Department of Biochemistry, State University of Maringá, Av. Colombo 5790, 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil

    Gisele Teixeira Souza Sora, Marcos Vieira da Silva, Geferson Almeida Gonçalves, Adelar Bracht & Rosane Marina Peralta

  2. Program in Food Technology for Graduated Students, Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR), Via Rosalina Maria dos Santos 1233, CEP 87301-899, Campo Mourão, PR, Brazil

    Charles Windson Isidoro Haminiuk

  3. Program of Food Engineering for Graduated Students, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Centro Politécnico, CEP 81531-990, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Acácio Antonio Ferreira Zielinski

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  1. Gisele Teixeira Souza Sora
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  2. Charles Windson Isidoro Haminiuk
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  3. Marcos Vieira da Silva
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  4. Acácio Antonio Ferreira Zielinski
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  5. Geferson Almeida Gonçalves
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  6. Adelar Bracht
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  7. Rosane Marina Peralta
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Correspondence to Rosane Marina Peralta.

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Sora, G.T.S., Haminiuk, C.W.I., da Silva, M.V. et al. A comparative study of the capsaicinoid and phenolic contents and in vitro antioxidant activities of the peppers of the genus Capsicum: an application of chemometrics. J Food Sci Technol 52, 8086–8094 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-015-1935-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-015-1935-8

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