Determination of capsaicin in hot peppers (Capsicum spp.) by direct analysis in real time (DART) method

Abstract In this study, 46 different cultivars of chilli peppers and their seeds were analysed. Capsaicin, the alkaloid responsible for the pungency of chilli peppers, was first analysed with the optimised direct analysis in real time (DART) and time of flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) method, and the capsaicin content values obtained were compared with those obtained from the high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC–DAD) method. The correlation coefficient values for the DART–TOF-MS method with the HPLC–DAD method were R2 = 0.845 for the pulp of chilli peppers and R2 = 0.776 for the chilli pepper seeds. The optimised DART–TOF-MS method was evaluated as a suitable tool for rapidly distinguishing between chilli peppers and their seeds based on pungency and capsaicin content. The obtained mass spectral data were statistically evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA), and the individual types of chilli peppers were distinguished by their varying pungency, based on choosing selected specific m/z values for the capsaicin compound.