Shaimaa GA, Mahmoud MS, Mohamed MR and Emam AA
Raw and heat-treated (boiled) sweet and hot chilli pepper (Capsicum spp.) were evaluated for their contents of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and free radical-scavenging activity by DPPH• assay. Boiling was performed under the Egyptian household conditions. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were determined. Twenty six phenolic compounds and eleven flavonoid compounds were fractionated by HPLC. DPPH• assay demonstrated that both fresh and heat-treated pepper samples had a high antioxidant activity which correlated with their high contents of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Finally, the resulted data showed that total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were increased as the result of boiling treatment as well as the antioxidant activity.