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Influence of Extraction Solvents on Antioxidant Activity and the Content of Bioactive Compounds in Non-pungent Peppers

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Abstract

Bioactive compounds in foods have been shown to maintain human health. However, the relative amounts of bioactive compounds and the variation in the amounts are still poorly understood. In this study, the efficacy of different extraction solvents (hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, and a methanol:water mixture), as well as the levels of certain bioactive compounds in non-pungent pepper cultivars (TMH, TMJ, PA137, and B58) were investigated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Antioxidant activities were determined using 2,2,-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reducing power, and deoxyribose degradation. Hexane extracts had the highest level of carotenoids (47.2–628.8 μg/g), and methanol extracts contained maximum flavonoids (24.9–152.2 μg/g) in four different cultivars. Higher DPPH scavenging activity was found in the hexane extracts from TMH, TMJ, PA137, and B58 (IC50 value: 0.67, 0.74, 0.55, and 0.48 μg/ml, respectively), whereas the reducing power was high in ethyl acetate and acetone extracts. Inhibition of deoxyribose degradation was highest in methanolic extracts from TMH, TMJ, PA137, and B58 (51.2, 49.5, 52.6, and 47.4 %, respectively). These data demonstrate that solvent chemical properties such as polarity can differentially impact the efficiency with which different bioactive compounds are recovered from foods, and this could lead to differences in estimated biological activity such as antioxidant capacity.

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Acknowledgement

The present research report is based upon work supported by Designing Foods for Health through the Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center, USDA-NIFA No. 2010-34402-20875.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 7784, USA

    Haejin Bae, G. K. Jayaprakasha, Kevin Crosby, John L. Jifon & Bhimanagouda S. Patil

  2. Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, Weslaco, TX, 78596, USA

    John L. Jifon

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  1. Haejin Bae
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  2. G. K. Jayaprakasha
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  3. Kevin Crosby
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  5. Bhimanagouda S. Patil
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Correspondence to John L. Jifon or Bhimanagouda S. Patil.

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Bae, H., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Crosby, K. et al. Influence of Extraction Solvents on Antioxidant Activity and the Content of Bioactive Compounds in Non-pungent Peppers. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 67, 120–128 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-012-0290-4

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