Bioactive Compounds of Four Hot Pepper Varieties (Capsicum annuum L.), Antioxidant Capacity, and Intestinal Bioaccessibility

Pepper fruits (Capsicum annuum) contain a wide array of phytochemicals with well-known antioxidant properties. Since bioactive compounds depend on their bioavailability to exert beneficial effects, it was crucial to estimate the extent of release from the food matrix and thus their bioaccessibility. Accordingly, we determined the individual carotenoid and phenolic content as well as the antioxidant properties of four red hot dried cultivars (Capsicum annuum L.) of high consumption in Mexico and estimated the extent of intestinal bioaccessibility of carotenoids with significance in human health, P-carotene, P-cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin, using an in vitro gastrointestinal model. Hot dried peppers at ripe stage had a high content of bioactive compounds that exhibited significant antioxidant properties (26-80 mu mol trolox equivalents/g of dry matter), such as polyphenols (>2000 mg/100 g of dry matter) and carotenoids (95-437 mg/100 g of dry matter), which were partially bioaccessible. The amount released from the food matrix by the action of digestive enzymes was about 75% for total polyphenols, up to 49% for both P-carotene and zeaxanthin, and up to 41% for beta-cryptoxanthin. The results suggest that from 50 to 80% of these carotenoids could reach the colon to be potentially fermented or could remain unavailable.