Colour change in pepper (Capsicum annuum) during storage.docVIP

UDC 664.521 : 543.42 : 621.796 APTEFF, 35, 1-280 (2004) BIBLID: 1450–7188 (2004) 35, 59-64 Original scientific paper COLOUR CHANGE IN PEPPER (Capsicum annuum) DURING STORAGE Aleksandra N. Tepi? and Biserka L. Vuji?i? Powders of pepper were stored at ambient temperature, exposed to daylight. The final quality was evaluated by measuring the extractable colour by the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA). Also, the possibility of using surface colour measurement, as a supplement to extractable colour measurement was investigated. The use of the chro- matic attributes L, a and b, suggested by the Commision Internationale de lEclairage (CIE), i.e., of the CIELAB space, made it possible to find the correlation between ASTA and apparent colour of paprika. KEYWORDS: Pepper; colour measurement; storage; quality INTRODUCTION The range of food products that contain pepper or its chemical constituents is really wide. Paprika extracts are also used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Yellow, orange and red colours of pepper originate from the carotenoid pigments formed in the fruit during ripening. Over 30 different carotenoids have been identified in capsicum fruits (1). Some of them are provitamin A carotenoids, essential to human nutrition, and the oxygenated carotenoids that have been studied as anti-cancer agents. Since paprika is used as a colouring agent in food, its market value depends partly on the red colour. Many factors affect pepper colour loss during storage, and the most important is oxidative degradation of carotenoids, caused by exposure to heat, light or oxy- gen. Colour of peppers can be evaluated from three different aspects (2): surface (apparent) colour, extractable colour, and carotenoids profiles (3 – 8). Ectractable and surface colour measurements are standard quality evaluations in the spice industry (9 – 16). Surface colour measurements are used to specify colours perce