Simple Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Capsaicin in Chilis and Spicy Sauces

A simple extractive-spectrophotometric method for the determination of Capsaicin in chilis and spicy sauces was developed. A rapid method to determining capsaicin content of capsicum fruits is desirable so that plant breeders, growers, seed companies, and especially pepper processors must be able to quickly estimate the relative pungency of their raw products to have reasonable quality assurance in their finished products. The spectral behavior of Capsaicinoids (CAP) in the micellar system of surfactants was investigated. An analytical method is proposed for the determination of CAP based on the use of Adogen-464 in toluene and measurement of the absorbance of the organic extract at 286 nm. The calibration graph was linear from 4 to 44 mg mL-1 of CAP; the detection and quantification limits were 0.259 and 0.865 mg ml-1, respectively. The method was applied to analysis of Capsaicinoids in several commercial and natural food products.