Antioxidant profile of fourteen varieties of hot and sweet peppers by two extraction methods

Resumo

Chili peppers are among the most important vegetables in the world. The demand of this fruit reveals a noticeable rapid increasing, which importance is mainly due to its nutraceutical composition. These fruits are rich in capsaicinoids, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and others, including vitamins. In this study, a comparative evaluation between two extraction methods of bioactive compounds of fourteen different varieties of chili pepper was performed. Two extraction methods for antioxidants were evaluated, the time-solvent and the ultrasound. Results showed that the phenolic compounds oscillated between 48.7 - 634.1 mg GAE 100 g^-1 DW, the flavonoids content varied from in 1 - 97 mg QE 100 g^-1 DW, the antioxidant activity from 65 – 348 µmol trolox g^-1 DW and the capsaicin content oscillated from 0.3 to 922 mg 100 g^-1 DW. The extraction method with higher values of bioactive compounds for each of chili pepper types was the ultrasound for all the measured variables.