Abstract
ABSTRACT Capsicum chinense Jacq. and C. baccatum var. pendulum fruits are widely used in the food and processed food industry, in Peru, but their seeds and placentas are discarded as residues. This study aimed to quantify the proportion of edible (pericarp) and non-edible (seeds, placenta and interlocular septa) parts of the fruits, in market condition (semi-dried fruits of C. chinense and fresh fruits of C. baccatum), as well as to quantify the capsaicinoids and their pungency, in extracts of each fruit part previously dried. The pericarp represents 63 % and 85 % of the fruit, respectively for C. chinense and C. baccatum. The placenta stands for ~10 % of the fruit in both species, whereas, for the seeds, the index is 23 % in C. chinense and 5 % in C. baccatum. The content of capsaicinoids and pungency vary among the fruit parts and the species. High contents of capsaicinoids and pungency are found in non-edible parts of the fruit, mainly in the placenta (79 % in C. chinense and 51 % in C. baccatum). Regardless of the fruit part and species, the capsaicin was the major component of capsaicinoids (4,399 ug g-1 and 1,582 ug g-1 of the dry weight in C. chinense and C. baccatum, respectively), while dihydrocapsaicin and nordihydrocapsaicin reached a lower content. C. chinense contains more capsaicinoids and, thus, a much higher level of pungency than the C. baccatum fruits.
Highlights
Chili belongs to the Capsicum (Solanaceae) genus
The pericarp represents the largest proportion of the fruit: 62.5 ± 1 % in C. chinense and 85.1 ± 1.3 % in C. baccatum
Fruits of C. chinense have an intense red-brown color and are sold in the domestic market as a whole dried chili, whereas fruits of C. baccatum are sold in fresh conditions, processed paste and dehydrated powder
Summary
Chili belongs to the Capsicum (Solanaceae) genus. The term capsicum derives from the Greek word “kapso”, which means “to bite”, referring to the pungency of the fruit (Maga & Todd 1975). The alkamide compound (bioactive agent) present in the fruits of all Capsicum species provides the organoleptic properties of pungency, being an intrinsic characteristic of this genus. The most abundant, and responsible for approximately 90 % of the total pungency, are capsaicin (trans-8 methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) and dihydrocapsaicin (8 methyl-N-vanillylnonanamide) (Li et al 2009, Sganzerla et al 2014). 2. Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú, Facultad de Ingeniería de Industrias Alimentarias, Laboratorio de Biotecnología de
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