Abstract
In the present study, two cultivars of pepper (Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens) at two maturity stages (green and red) were evaluated for total phenolic and flavonoid content, organic acids, vitamin C, β-carotene, vitamin E, capsaicin and the antioxidant and anticancer activities of their aqueous extracts. Total phenolic content was found to be ranged from 11.09-26.14 mg GAE/g DW, while total flavonoid content was ranged from 2.7 mg to 5.0 mg QE/g DW. Twenty six phenolic and aromatic compounds, twelve flavonoid compounds and eleven organic acids were identified in all samples by using of HPLC. Vitamin C, β-carotene, vitamin E and capsaicin contents were also estimated by HPLC and detected at high levels which were ranged from 500.0-645.5 mg/100 g DW, 6.56-35.69 mg/100 g DW, 10.44-19.36 mg/100 g DW and 37.46-69.90 mg/100 g DW, respectively. Antioxidant activities of pepper samples were carried out by using of both DPPH•-scavenging activity and total antioxidant capacity (ABTS•+) assays and the extracts exhibited high activities which were ranged from 96.95% to 98.64% and from 77.73% to 93.11%, respectively. Finally, the potential anticancer activity of pepper extracts and capsaicin standard was tested against prostate (PC-3) and breast (MCF-7) carcinoma cell lines in vitro. The results showed that sweet pepper had a higher anticancer activity against PC-3, in contrast, chilli pepper had a higher against MCF-7.
Highlights
Capsicum is a genus of plants from the family of Solanaceae
Total phenolic content of dried pepper samples and HPLC of their fractionation Data in Table 1 show that total phenolic content ranged from 19.2636.87 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight basis (DW) and sweet peppers were significantly higher than chilli peppers
They are higher than those found by RodríguezMaturino et al [56] who found that the Habanero pepper had significantly higher total phenolic content (5.92 mg GAE /g DW) than the Chiltepin pepper (4.85 mg GAE/g DW)
Summary
Capsicum is a genus of plants from the family of Solanaceae. Some species of the genus Capsicum are grown for their fruits, which can be consumed fresh (in salads, baked dishes, salsa, pizzas, etc.), cooked, as a dried powder, in a sauce, or processed into oleoresin [1].Peppers contain phenolics and flavonoids [2], carotenoids [3], vitamin C, vitamin E [4] and alkaloids [5], which play important roles in human health. Capsicum is a genus of plants from the family of Solanaceae. Some species of the genus Capsicum are grown for their fruits, which can be consumed fresh (in salads, baked dishes, salsa, pizzas, etc.), cooked, as a dried powder, in a sauce, or processed into oleoresin [1]. Capsaicinoids and carotenoids exhibit anticancer [10,11] and antioxidant activities [12,13,14]. Flavonoids have been shown to act as antioxidants, and they possess anti-inflammatory [15], antiallergic [16], and antibacterial activities [17]. The antioxidant activity of pepper extracts involves bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, capsaicinoids and ascorbic acid [18,19,20]
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