Abstract

MORAN-BANUELOS, S. Hirán et al. Capsaicinoids in chile pepper landraces of Puebla, Mexico. Agrociencia [online]. 2008, vol.42, n.7, pp.807-816. ISSN 2521-9766.

The genetic resources of pepper (Capsicum spp.) are important because they are the natural source of capsaicinoids that confer hotness to its fruits. There is little information about the magnitude of this characteristic in native peppers grown by traditional agriculture in México. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify and quantify the predominant capsaicinoids in 22 pepper populations collected in nine municipalities of the State of Puebla, México, using oleoresin extraction from dry pepper fruits. All peppers studied belong to the species C. annuum and are of the following types: Miahuateco, Copi, Natives of Tecomatlán and Poblano. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents in filtered extracts were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Capsaicin content was greater than dihydrocapsaicin content, except in two samples from Tlacotepec and Texmelucan municipalities. Capsaicinoid concentration varied among and within pepper types. In Copi peppers capsaicin concentration ranged from 36.86 to 556.78 µg g^-1dry weight, and dihydrocapsaicin concentration ranged from 30.54 to 348.26 µg g^-1. The range of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin concentration in Miahuateco peppers was 21.54 to 158.07 µg g^-1 and 19.54 to 99.24 µg g^-1. The Copi pepper CP654cl collected from Xochitlán had the greatest values for both alkaloids. It may be concluded that there are peppers with the potential to select for different grades of hotness.

Keywords : Capsicum annuum; capsaicin; Copi pepper; Miahuateco pepper; dihydrocapsaicin; native Tecomatlán pepper.

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