FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF Capsicum GENUS PEPPERS

Rosane Marina Peralta,Aloisio Henrique Pereira Souza,Gisele Teixeira De Souza Sora,Acácio Antônio Ferreira Zielinski,Makoto Matsushita,Charles Windson Isidoro Haminiuk

doi:10.1590/s1413-70542015000400008

Abstract

Fatty acids have a great metabolic and structural importance. Evaluation of fatty acid composition of peppers is still incomplete. Pulps and seeds from six varieties of the genus Capsicum were evaluated in this work with respect to their contents in fatty acids. A total of 25 different fatty acids, including some with odd number of carbons were identified in the samples. The most abundant fatty acids were palmitic (16:0), oleic (18:1n-9) and linoleic (18:2n-6) acids. The polyunsaturated:saturated fatty acid (PUFA/SFA) ratios for all peppers were high due to the elevated amounts of polyunsaturated acids, particularly linoleic acid. In the pulps, the omega-6/omega-3 ratios ranging from 1.28 to 4.33, were relatively adequate if one considers that ratios between 0.25 and 1.0 in the human diet are regarded as highly appropriate. In the seeds, the levels of omega-3 were very low whereas the levels of omega-6 were high, leading to very inadequate omega-6/omega-3 ratios ranging from 74.2 to 279.6. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained 93.49% of the total variance of the data. Considering the PUFA/SFA ratio and omega-6/omega-3 ratio, our data suggest that, among the peppers of the genus Capsicum evaluated in this work, the bell pepper and orange habanero pepper present the best nutritional characteristics concerning fatty acid composition.

Highlights

Peppers (Capsicum spp.), which are grown worldwide, including Brazil, are used extensively as a natural food colorant and seasoning agent due to their attractive color, flavor, and taste (Reyes-Escogido et al, 2011)
Capsicum spp are remarkable sources of antioxidant compounds, including capsaicinoids (Ochi et al, 2003; Topuz; Ozdemir, 2007) and phenolic compounds, flavonoids (Materská; Perucka, 2005). The consumption of these components has potential health benefits due to their antioxidant activity, which may help to prevent inflammatory diseases and pathologies associated with oxidative damage, such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease (Kothari et al, 2010; Topuz; Ozdemir, 2007)
The lowest values of total lipids were found in orange habanero (1.93%)

Summary

Introduction

Peppers (Capsicum spp.), which are grown worldwide, including Brazil, are used extensively as a natural food colorant and seasoning agent due to their attractive color, flavor, and taste (Reyes-Escogido et al, 2011). Capsicum spp are remarkable sources of antioxidant compounds, including capsaicinoids (Ochi et al, 2003; Topuz; Ozdemir, 2007) and phenolic compounds, flavonoids (Materská; Perucka, 2005). The consumption of these components has potential health benefits due to their antioxidant activity, which may help to prevent inflammatory diseases and pathologies associated with oxidative damage, such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease (Kothari et al, 2010; Topuz; Ozdemir, 2007). Peppers of the genus Capsicum appear to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiplatelet, antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, and hypocholesterolemic properties and demonstrated using in vitro and in vivo models. The main pungent component, capsaicin, has been used clinically for its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties (Rezanka; Sigler, 2009; Srinivasan, 2013).

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