Phytochemicals in pepper By Yona Netha Vamsi Reddy

Phytochemicals in pepper By Yona Netha Vamsi Reddy CITRUS CENTER WESLACO

History o o Peppers were named by Christopher Columbus and Spanish explorers who were searching for peppercorn plants that produce the spice known as black pepper. In 1492, Columbus and his explorers discovered sweet and hot peppers in the West Indies and took samples back to Europe. There, they were used as a substitute for black pepper, which was very expensive since it had to be imported from Asia. Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is credited with introducing chili peppers into Africa and Asia

Taxonomy Order : Solanales Family: Solanaceae Genus: Capsicum L. The most common species of chili peppers are: o Capsicum annuum, which includes many common varieties such as bell peppers, paprika, cayenne, jalapeños, and the chiltepin o Capsicum frutescens, which includes the tabasco peppers o Capsicum chinense, which includes the hottest peppers such as the naga, habanero and Scotch bonnet o Capsicum pubescens, which includes the South American rocoto peppers o Capsicum baccatum, which includes the South American aji peppers

ORIGIN o o southern Brazil to Bolivia (Mc. Leod et al. 1982; Eshbaugh et al. 1983; Pickersgill 1984) Central America and southern Mexico Evidence suggests that C. annuum originally occurred in northern Latin America and C. chinense in tropical northern Amazonia (Pickersgill 1971). Capsicum pubescens and C. baccatum appear to be more prevalent in lower South America.

Chile Peppers by Country of origin/association by Mc. Mullan & Julian Livsey (2007 ) .

Just How HOT Are My Chiles? Wilbur Scoville-1912, developed a method to measure the heat level of chile peppers. The test is named after him, the “Scoville Organoleptic Test”

Scoville units(SHU). o o The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present in it. Bell peppers rank at 0 (SHU). Naga Jolokia is a chilli pepper that grows in northeastern India and Bangladesh is the hottest chili in the world , measuring over 1, 000 SHU. Pure capsaicin, measures 16, 000 SHU.

Hot Like No Other Ghost chilli

Anatomy of the Chili Pepper Most of the capsaicin is found on the longitudinal ribs inside of the chile pepper (placenta)

. o o trans-8 -methyl-N-vanillyl-6 -nonenamide, N-(4 -Hydroxy-3 methoxyphenyl)-8 -methyl-non-trans-6 -enamide. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids. Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, crystalline to waxy compound. Addition of a branched-chain fatty acid to vanillylamine.

capsaicinoids o o o Capsaicin is the main capsaicinoid in chilli peppers. Capsaicin is believed to be synthesized in the interlocular septa of chilli peppers. Biosynthesis depends on the gene AT 3, which resides at the pun 1 locus. six natural capsaicinoids. Vanillylamide of n-nonanoic acid (VNA) is a synthetic capsaicinoid and is used as a reference substance for determining capsaicinoids relative pungency.

capsaicinoids Capsaicinoid name Abbrev. Typical relative amount Scoville heat units Capsaicin C 69% 15, 000 Dihydrocapsaicin DHC 22% 15, 000 Nordihydrocapsaicin NDHC 7% 9, 100, 000 Homodihydrocapsaicin HDHC 1% 8, 600, 000 Homocapsaicin HC 1% 8, 600, 000 Nonivamide PAVA Chemical structure

Nutritional value o o o Red chilis are very rich in vitamin C and provitamin A. Yellow and especially green chilis (which are essentially unripe fruit) contain a considerably lower amount of both substances. They are very high in potassium and high in magnesium and iron. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Iron and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B 6, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol.

Phenolic compounds and Antioxidant activity o o o Together with vitamins phenolic compounds form antioxidant complex productive in eliminating of free radicals. the antioxidant potential of compound arise from free –OH groups and their substitution in the compound. The main phenolic compounds of pepper fruits are esters of ferulic and sinapic acids and flavonoids.

antioxidant activity (AOX) o o provitamin A , carotenoids Betacarotene, Alpha-carotene, and Beta-cryptoxanthin. Flavonoids Phenolic acids Ascorbic acid

Flavonoids o o o o Quercetin Luteolin Apigenin capsanthin Myristcin Hesperidin Scopoletin

Flavonoids and Antioxidant Activity of Fresh Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Cultivars o o o Flavonoid, ascorbic acid and total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of "jalapeño" "yellow wax" "Chile" "ancho" and "serrano" peppers were investigated at green or yellow stages of maturity. "Chile", "yellow wax" and "ancho" peppers had greater flavonoid and ascorbic acid contents and antioxidant activities than "jalapeño" peppers. Luteolin had highest antioxidant activity followed by capsaicin and quercetin. *Y. LEE, L. R HOWARD, B. VILLALÓN (1995) Flavonoids and Antioxidant Activity of Fresh Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Cultivars Journal of Food Science Volume 60 Issue 3 Page 473 -476, May 1995

Anti-oxidant content of different colored sweet peppers, white, green, yellow, orange and red (Capsicum annuum L. ) o o o Analyzed for total carotenoids, α-tocopherol, sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose), organic acids (citric and ascorbic acids) and anti-oxidant properties. The mature fruits contained higher carotenoids, α-tocopherol, sugars and organic acids than immature fruits. Among the mature fruits, ‘Signal Red’ was the highest in total carotenoids, while ‘Signal Orange’ was the highest in αtocopherol. ‘Signal Red’ and ‘Signal Orange’ contained the most sugars and organic acids. *Hiroshi Matsufuji et al. Anti-oxidant content of different coloured sweet peppers, white, green, yellow, orange and red (Capsicum annuum L. ). International Journal of Food Science & Technology.

Antioxidant Activities of Different Colored Sweet Bell Peppers (Capsicum annuum L. ) o o o Antioxidant compounds and their antioxidant activity in 4 different colored (green, yellow, orange, and red) sweet bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L. ) were investigated. The red pepper had significantly higher total phenolics content than the green pepper. Among the 4 different colored peppers, red pepper contained a higher level of β-carotene (5. 4 μg/g), capsanthin (8. 0 μg/g), quercetin (34. 0 μg/g), and luteolin (11. 0 μg/g). The yellow pepper had the lowest β-carotene content (0. 2 μg/g), while the green one had undetectable capsanthin and the lowest content of luteolin (2. 0 μg/g). The free radical scavenging abilities of peppers determined were lowest for the green pepper but not significantly different from the other 3 peppers. *T. sun et al (2007) Antioxidant Activities of Different Colored Sweet Bell Peppers ( Capsicum annuum L. ) Journal of Food Science 72 (2), S 98–S 102.

Effects of Processing Treatments on Recovery of Capsaicin in Jalapeno Peppers o o Capsaicin content in frozen, cooked and canned jalapeno peppers was quantified using GLC analysis and compared to the capsaicin content in raw pepper. Frozen and canned peppers retained approximately one-half of the capsaicinoid compounds that were present in raw pepper. *MARY KATE HARRISON, NATHOLYN D. HARRIS (1985) Effects of Processing Treatments on Recovery of Capsaicin in Jalapeno Peppers Journal of Food Science 50 (6), 1764– 1765.

Health benefits o Capsaicin was shown, in laboratory settings, to cause cancer cell apoptosis in rats. *Athanasiou A, Smith PA, Vakilpour S, et al (2007). "Vanilloid receptor agonists and antagonists are mitochondrial inhibitors: how vanilloids cause non-vanilloid receptor mediated cell death". Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 354 (1): 50– 5. o Recent research in mice shows that chili (capsaicin in particular) may offer some hope of weight loss for people suffering from obesity. * extract may stop fat cell growth By Stephen Daniells 3/1/2007 * Razavi R, Chan Y, Afifiyan FN, et al (2006). "TRPV 1+ sensory neurons control beta cell stress and islet inflammation in autoimmune diabetes". Cell 127 (6): 1123– 35

Health benefits o Canadian researchers used capsaicin from chilies to kill nerve cells in the pancreases of mice with Type 1 diabetes, thus allowing the insulin producing cells to start producing insulin again. *Razavi R, Chan Y, Afifiyan FN, et al (2006). "TRPV 1+ sensory neurons control beta cell stress and islet inflammation in autoimmune diabetes". Cell 127 (6): 1123– 35. *Chili extract makes diabetes go away December 15, 2006 The Vancouver Sun

Health benefits o Research in humans found that "after adding chili to the diet, the LDL, or bad cholesterol, actually resisted oxidation for a longer period of time, (delaying) the development of a major risk for cardiovascular disease. *Chili peppers can improve your health 9/9/2007 Daily Herald * Ahuja KD, Ball MJ (2006). "Effects of daily ingestion of chilli on serum lipoprotein oxidation in adult men and women". Br. J. Nutr. 96 (2): 239– 42

Health benefits o o Chilli peppers are being probed as a treatment for alleviating chronic pain. By combining an anesthetic with capsaicin, researchers can block pain in rat paws without causing temporary paralysis. This anesthetic may one day allow patients to be conscious during surgery and may also lead to the development of more effective chronic pain treatments. *Binshtok AM, Bean BP, Woolf CJ (2007). "Inhibition of nociceptors by TRPV 1 - mediated entry of impermeant sodium channel blockers". Nature 449 (7162): 607– 10. * Using Hot Chili Peppers To Relieve Pain. CBS News (2007).

Health benefits o Spices, including chilli, are theorized to control the microbial contamination levels of food in countries with minimal or no refrigeration. * Billing J, Sherman PW (1998). "Antimicrobial functions of spices: why some like it hot". The Quarterly review of biology 73 (1): 3– 49.

Health benefits Several studies found that capsaicin could have an anti-ulcer protective effect on stomachs infected with H. pylori by affecting the chemicals the stomach secretes in response to infection. *Lee IO, Lee KH, Pyo JH, Kim JH, Choi YJ, Lee YC (2007). "Anti-inflammatory effect of o capsaicin in Helicobacter pylori-infected gastric epithelial cells". Helicobacter 12 (5): 510– 7. *Satyanarayana MN (2006). "Capsaicin and gastric ulcers". Critical reviews in food science and nutrition 46 (4): 275– 328. *O'Mahony R, Al-Khtheeri H, Weerasekera D, et al (2005). "Bactericidal and anti-adhesive properties of culinary and medicinal plants against Helicobacter pylori". World J. Gastroenterol. 11 (47): 7499– 507.

Precautions o A high consumption of chili is associated with stomach cancer. *Mathew A, Gangadharan P, Varghese C, Nair MK (2000). "Diet and stomach cancer: a casecontrol study in South India". Eur. J. Cancer Prev. 9 (2): 89– 97. *López-Carrillo L, López-Cervantes M, Robles. Díaz G, et al (2003). "Capsaicin consumption, Helicobacter pylori positivity and gastric cancer in Mexico". Int. J. Cancer 106 (2): 277– 82. *Archer VE, Jones DW (2002). "Capsaicin pepper, cancer and ethnicity". Med. Hypotheses 59 (4): 450– 7. López-Carrillo L, Hernández Avila M, Dubrow R (1994). "Chili pepper consumption and gastric cancer in Mexico: a case-control study". Am. J. Epidemiol. 139 (3): 263– 71

Precautions o Chilis may sometimes be adulterated with Sudan I, III IIV, Para-Red, and other illegal carcinogenic dyes. *Gajda J, Switka A, Kuźma K, Jarecka J (2006). "[Sudan and other illegal dyes--food adulteration]" (in Polish). Roczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny 57 (4): 317– 23

Precautions o Aflatoxins and N- nitroso compounds, which are carcinogenic, are frequently found in chili powder. *(2007) "Final report on the safety assessment of capsicum annuum extract, capsicum annuum fruit extract, capsicum annuum resin, capsicum annuum fruit powder, capsicum frutescens fruit extract, capsicum frutescens resin, and capsaicin". Int. J. Toxicol. 26 Suppl 1: 3– 106. . * Fazekas B, Tar A, Kovács M (2005). "Aflatoxin and ochratoxin A content of spices in Hungary". Food additives and contaminants 22 (9): 856– 63. . * Reddy SV, Mayi DK, Reddy MU, Thirumala-Devi K, Reddy DV (2001). "Aflatoxins B 1 in different grades of chillies (Capsicum annum L. ) in India as determined by indirect competitive-ELISA". Food additives and contaminants 18 (6): 553– 8.

Precautions o o Chronic ingestion of chili products may induce gastro esophageal reflux (GER). Chili may increase the number of daily bowel movements and lower pain thresholds for people with irritable bowel syndrome. *Milke P, Diaz A, Valdovinos MA, Moran S (2006). "Gastro esophageal reflux in healthy subjects induced by two different species of chili (Capsicum annum)". Digestive diseases (Basel, Switzerland) 24 (1 -2): 184– 8. *Agarwal MK, Bhatia SJ, Desai SA, Bhure U, Melgiri S (2002). "Effect of red chillies on small bowel and colonic transit and rectal sensitivity in men with irritable bowel syndrome". Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology 21 (5): 179– 82

conclusion o Peppers are a bountiful source of flavonoids. o Naturally occurring in plants. o Protection from various diseases. o Useful in diet for antioxidant effects.