Analysis of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in peppers and pepper sauces by solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple method for the analysis of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in peppers and pepper sauces by solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been developed. A novel device was designed for direct extraction solid phase microextraction in order to avoid damage to the fiber. The analysis was performed without derivatization for the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Selection fiber, extraction temperature, extraction time and pH, were optimized. The method was linear in the range 0.109-1.323 mu g/mL for capsaicin and 0.107-1.713 mu g/mL for dihydrocapsaicin with correlation coefficient up to r = 0.9970 for both capsaicinoids. The precision of the method was less than 10%. The method was applied to the analysis of 11 varieties of peppers and four pepper sauces. A broad range of capsaicin (55.0-25 459 mu g/g) and dihydrocapsaicin (93-1 130 mu g/g) was found in the pepper and pepper sauces samples (4.3-717.3 and 1.0-134.8 mu g/g), respectively. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.