Carotenoid composition in mature Capsicum annuum

Abstract

We investigated the carotenoid composition of thirteen types of Capsicum annuum fruit at full maturity and discussed the ratio of β-carotene to capsanthin. Among the thirteen types examined, "Cherry sweet" and "Raruku" had the fruit with the highest values of total carotenoid content and capsanthin content. "Raruku" and "Sarara"had high capsanthin content ("Raruku" 63%, "Sarara" 59%). Although ten C. annuum varieties were included in the 13 fruit types sampled, a high correlation (r=0.960) was observed between β-carotene and capsanthin. In addition, the 1:10 carotene capsanthin ratio was used as an index for the capsanthin content of ripe C. annuum.