Capsaicinoid content and quality attributes of commercial red pepper powder according to the labeled pungency levels

Abstract

As per Korean Industrial Standards (KS), red pepper powders are classified into five groups based on their pungency level: mild hot (<150 mg capsaicinoid/kg), slight hot (150-300 mg capsaicinoid/kg), medium hot (300-500 mg capsaicinoid/kg), very hot (500-1,000 mg capsaicinoid/kg), and extreme hot (>1,000 mg capsaicinoid/kg). In the Korean market, the pungency level is voluntarily declared as labels for red pepper powders; however, whether the labeled pungency level reflects the KS pungency level remains unknown. In this study, we determined the total capsaicinoid content (i.e., sum of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin content) of 93 red pepper powders by using high performance liquid chromatography. Additionally, other quality attributes such as moisture content, American Spice Trace Association (ASTA) color values, and free sugar content were investigated. The capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and total capsaicinoid contents ranged between 35.9-1,029.5 mg/kg, 22.4-472.3 mg/kg, and 60.7-1,402.0 mg/kg, respectively. Of the 93 red pepper samples, the labeled pungency levels of 51% samples matched the KS pungency levels. All the samples contained less than 15% moisture. The ASTA color values and free sugar content ranged between 43.5-121.6% and 6.2-17.2%. respectively. It may be recommended that red pepper powder manufacturers label the pungency levels according to the KS pungency level.