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. 2011 Oct 24;16(10):8919-29.
doi: 10.3390/molecules16108919.

Determination of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Capsicum fruit samples using high performance liquid chromatography

Zeid Abdullah Al Othman  1 , Yacine Badjah Hadj Ahmed, Mohamed Abdelaty Habila, Ayman Abdel Ghafar
Affiliations

Determination of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Capsicum fruit samples using high performance liquid chromatography

Zeid Abdullah Al Othman et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the content of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Capsicum samples collected from city markets in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), calculate their pungency in Scoville heat units (SHU) and evaluate the average daily intake of capsaicin for the population of Riyadh. The investigated samples consisted of hot chillies, red chillies, green chillies, green peppers, red peppers and yellow peppers. Extraction of capsaicinoids was done using ethanol as solvent, while high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for separation, identification and quantitation of the components. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method was 0.09 and 0.10 µg/g for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, respectively, while the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.30 and 0.36 µg/g for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, respectively. Hot chillies showed the highest concentration of capsaicin (4249.0 ± 190.3 µg/g) and the highest pungency level (67984.60 SHU), whereas green peppers had the lowest detected concentration (1.0 ± 0.9 µg/g); green peppers, red peppers and yellow peppers were non pungent. The mean consumption of peppers for Riyadh city population was determined to be 15.5 g/person/day while the daily capsaicin intake was 7.584 mg/person/day.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chromatogram of the standard solution corresponding to 100 µg/g of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin (conditions: column Betasil C18 (150 × 4.6 mm × 3 μm), mobile phase: H2O/CH3CN, 50:50 v/v, flow rate: 1.5 mL/min, UV detection at 222 nm).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chromatogram of the red chili extract (conditions: column Betasil C18 (150 × 4.6 mm × 3 μm), mobile phase: H2O/CH3CN, 50:50 v/v, flow rate: 1.5 mL/min, UV detection at 222 nm).
Figure 3
Figure 3
UV spectrum of capsaicin peak eluted at 4.69 mn. The maximum absorbance corresponds to λmax = 228 nm.
Figure 4
Figure 4
UV spectrum of dihydrocapsaicin peak eluted at tR = 6.51 mn. The maximum absorbance corresponds to λmax = 228 nm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Pepper samples.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Calibration curve for capsaicin.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Calibration curve for dihydrocapsaicin.
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