Chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens), which is one of the most widely consumed spices in the world, has been present in Brazilian cuisine for over 500 years. The increasing demand for peppers, from both domestic and foreign caused the expansion of the cultivated area in several Brazilian states. The levels of vitamin C are higher in chili pepper than in sweet peppers and other vegetables. We obtained the physicochemical characterization of fresh and processed chili pepper and we studied the occurrence of nutritional quality loss after processing to provide subsidies for the development of technological research and to divulge the species. The study was carried out from December 2010 to March 2011, in the Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia (State University of Southwest Bahia). For determining the physico-chemical properties of the raw material we assessed the pH, titratable acidity and water activity (Aw). From the chemical composition we determined the moisture, ashes, lipids, crude protein and Vitamin C. We selected for the study fresh and processed peppers at full physiological ripeness (mature), acquired from the producers of the municipality of Barra do Choça, Bahia state, Brazil. Analyses were done with three replications. We performed statistical analysis of the data and expressed them as mean and standard deviation. The results obtained for samples of fresh and processed pepper, for water activity, pH and acidity were (0.9893 and 0.9832), (5.48 and 3.76) and (0.0353 and 2046%) respectively. For moisture, lipids, crude protein and ashes were (29.4 and 15.3%) (0.636 and 0.620%), (4.8 and 4.76%) and (0.039 and 0.043%) respectively and, for vitamin C were 121.5 mg/100g and 14.5 mg/100g for fresh and processed pepper. We concluded that, after processing, a considerable loss occurred in nutritional quality of chilli pepper.
Capsicum frutescens; ascorbic acid; chemical composition; spices processing
