Eleana SARAFI, Anastasios SIOMOS, Pavlos TSOUVALTZIS, Christos CHATZISSAVVIDIS, İoannis THERIOS

Boron and maturity effects on biochemical parameters and antioxidant activity of pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars

Pepper fruit (Capsicum annuumL.) is one of the best sources of carotenoids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, and antioxidant activity important in the human diet. The levels of bioactive compounds are variable and may be affected by cultivar, maturity stage, and boron concentration in the soil solution. A greenhouse experiment was conducted with the pepper cultivars Solario, Osho, Odysseo, and Arlequin treated with 5 boron concentrations (0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg B L-1) for 70 days. Fruits were sampled at 40 and 70 days and the concentration of carbohydrates, carotenoids, flavonoids, total phenols, and antioxidant activity (FRAP, DPPH) were measured. The experiment included 10 plants per B treatment and cultivar, with a total of 200 plants. The results obtained in this study showed that B toxicity reduced the level of carbohydrates in four commercial pepper cultivars grown in Greece and in other countries. The levels of carotenoids, flavonoids, and phenols were a function of pepper cultivar and boron treatment. Fruit maturation increased the level of carbohydrates, phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity. The cultivar Solario had the highest phenol concentration and also the highest FRAP value among the tested cultivars. In conclusion, boron toxicity decreased carbohydrate concentration and modified antioxidant activity in pepper fruit.

Keywords:

Antioxidants boron, carbohydrates, flavonoids, pepper, phenols,

PDF

___

Alvarez-Parrilla E, Dela Rosa LA, Amarowicz R, Shalidi F (2011). Antioxidant activity of fresh and processed jalapeño and serrano peppers. J Agric Food Chem 59: 163-173.
Antonius GF (2014). Impact of soil management practices on yield, fruit quality and antioxidant contents of pepper at four stages of fruit development . J Environ Sci Health B 49: 769-774.
Antonius GF, Turley ET, Hill RR (2014). Antioxidant contents of bell pepper and melon fruits grown in soil amended with recycled waste. J Environ Sci Health B 49: 361-375.
Asnin L, Park SW (2013). Isolation and analysis of bioactive compounds in Capsicum peppers. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 55: 254-289.
Babou L, Hadid L, Grosso C, Zaid F, Valentāo P, Andrade PB (2016). Study of phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of myrtle leaves and fruits as a function of maturation. Eur Food Res Technol 242: 1447-1457.
Benzie IFF, Strain JJ (1996). The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) as a measure of antioxidant power: the FRAP assay. Anal Biochem 239: 70-76.
Bhanduri SR, Jung BD (2013). Ripening-dependent changes in phytonutrients and antioxidant activity of red pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) fruits cultivated under open-field conditions. HortScience 48: 1275-1282.
Brand WW, Cuvelier ME, Berset C (1995). Use of a free radical method to evaluate antioxidant activity. LWT-Food Sci Te c h n o l 28: 25-30.
Chu YF, Sun J, Wu X, Liu RH (2002). Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common vegetables. J Agric Food Chem 50: 6910- 6916.
Clifford MN (2004). Diet-derived phenols in plasma and tissues and their implications for health. Planta Med 70: 1103-1114.
Collera-Zuniga O, Jimenez FG, Gordillo RM (2005). Comparative study of carotenoid composition in three Mexican varieties of Capsicum annuum L. Food Chem 90: 109-114.
Conforti F, Statti GA, Menichini F (2007). Chemical and biological variability of hot pepper fruits ( Capsicum annuum var. acuminatum L.) in relation to maturity stage. Food Chem 102: 1096-1104.
Deepa N, Kaur C, George B, Singh B, Kapoor HC (2007). Antioxidant constituents in some sweet pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes during maturity. LWT-Food Sci Technol 40: 121- 129.
Deepa N, Kaur C, Singh B, Kapoor HC (2006). Antioxidant activities in some red sweet pepper cultivars. J Food Compos Anal 19: 572-578.
Fales FW (1951). The assimilation and degradation of carbohydrates by yeast cells. J Biol Chem 193: 113-124.
Ghasemnezhad M, Sherafati M, Payvast GA (2011). Variation in phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity of five coloured bell pepper ( Capsicum annuum ) fruits at two different times. J Funct Foods 3: 44-49.
Grayfeed MH, Daood HG, Biacs PA, Alcaraz CF (2001). Content of bioactive compounds in pungent spice red pepper (paprika) as affected by ripening and genotype. J Sci Food Agric 81: 1580- 1585.
Guil-Guerrero JL, Martinez-Guirado C, del Mar Rebolloso-Fuentes M, Carrique-Perez A (2006). Nutrient composition and antioxidant activity of 10 pepper ( Capsicum annuum ) varieties. Eur Food Res Technol 224: 1-9.
Guzman IS, Hamby S, Romero J, Bosland PW, O’Connell MA (2010) Variability of carotenoid biosynthesis in orange colored Capsicum spp. Plant Sci 179: 49-59.
Ha SH, Kim JB, Park JS, Lee SW, Cho KJ (2007). A comparison of the carotenoid accumulation in Capsicum varieties that show different ripening-colours: deletion of the capsanthin- capsorubin synthase gene is not a prerequisite for the formation of a yellow pepper. J Exp Bot 58: 3135-3144.
Hervert-Hernandez D, Sayago-Ayerdi SG, Goni I (2010). Bioactive compounds of four hot pepper varieties ( Capsicum annuum L.) antioxidant capacity and intestinal bioaccessibility. J Agric Food Chem 58: 3399-3406.
Hoagland DR, Arnon DT (1938). The water culture method for growing plants without soil. Calif Agric Exp Stn Bull 347: 1-39.
Hornero-Mendez D, Gómez-Ladroñ De Guevara R, Mingueez- Mosquera MI (2000). Carotenoid biosynthesis changes in five red pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars during ripening. Cultivar selection for breeding. J Agric Food Chem 48: 3857- 3864.
Howard LR, Talcott ST, Brenes CH, Villalón B (2000). Changes in phytochemical and antioxidant activity of selected pepper cultivars ( Capsicum species) as influenced by maturity . J Agric Food Chem 48: 1713-1720.
Keyhaninejad N, Richins RD, O’Connell MA (2012). Carotenoid content in field-grown versus greenhouse-grown peppers: different responses in leaf and fruit. HortScience 47: 852-855.
Khoo HE, Prasad KN, Kong KW, Jiang Y, Ismail A (2011). Carotenoids and their Isomers: Color pigments in fruits and vegetables. Molecules 16: 1710-1738.
Lee Y, Howard LR, Villalón B (1995). Flavonoids and antioxidant activity of fresh pepper ( Capsicum annuum ) cultivars. J Food Sci 60: 473-476.
Lichtenthaler HK (1987). Chlorophylls and carotenoids: pigments of photosynthetic biomembranes. Methods Enzymol 148: 350- 382.
Loizzo MR, Pugliese A, Bonesi M, Menichini F, Tundis R (2015). Evaluation of chemical profile and antioxidant activity of twenty cultivars from Capsicum annuum , Capsicum baccatum , Capsicum chacoense and Capsicum chinense : a comparison between fresh and processed peppers. LWT-Food Sci Technol 64: 623-631.
Malkin RA, Niyogi K (2000). Photosynthesis. In: Buchanan B, Gruissem W, Jones R, editors. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. Rockville, MD, USA: American Society of Plant Biologists, pp. 568-628.
Maoka T, Mochida K, Kozuka M, Ito Y, Fujiwara Y, Hashimoto K, Enjo F, Ogata M, Nobukuni Y, Tokuda H et al. (2001) Cancer chemopreventive activity of carotenoids in the fruits of red paprika Capsicum annuum L. Cancer Lett 172: 103-109.
Materska M, Perucka I (2005). Antioxidant activity of the main phenolic compounds isolated from hot pepper fruit ( Capsicum annuum L.). J Agric Food Chem 53: 1750-1756.
Maurya KR, Devi B (2016). Effect of boron on growth, yield, protein and ascorbic acid content of radish ( Raphanus sativus Linn.). European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience 4:33-34.
Nadeem M, Anjum FM, Khan MR, Saeed M, Riaz A (2011). Antioxidant potential of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.): a review. Pak J Food Sci 21: 45-51.
Navarro JM, Flores P, Garrido C, Martinez V (2006). Changes in the contents of antioxidant compounds in pepper fruits at different ripening stages, as affected by salinity. Food Chem 96: 66-73.
Oboh G, Batista J, Bocha T (2007). Polyphenols in red pepper [ Capsicum annuum var. aviculare (Tepin)] and their protective effect on some pro-oxidants induced lipid peroxidation in brain and liver. Eur Food Res Technol 225: 239-247.
Oboh G, Rocha JBT (2007). Distribution and antioxidant activity of polyphenols in ripe and unripe tree pepper ( Capsicum pubescens ). J Food Bioch 31: 456-473.
Ou B, Huang D, Hampschwoodwill M, Flanagan TA, Deemer EK (2002). Analysis of antioxidant activities of common vegetables employing oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and FRAP assays: a comparative study. J Agric Food Chem 50: 3122-3128.
Ozturk M, Sakcali S, Gucel S, Tombuloglu H (2010). Boron and plants. In: Ashraf M, Ozturk M, Ahmad MSA, editors. Plant Adaptation and Phytoremediation. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science + Business Media, pp. 275-311.
Perez-Lopez AJ, Moises del Amor F, Serraro-Martinez A, Fortea MI, Nunez-Delicado E (2007). Influence of agricultural practices on the quality of sweet pepper fruits as affected by the maturity stage. J Sci Food Agric 87: 2075-2080.
Perucka I, Materska M, Jachacz L (2010). Quality assessment of preparations made from dry fruits of Capsicum annuum L pepper. Zywnosc-Nauka Technologia Jakosc 17: 30-39.
Porra RJ, Thompson WA, Kriedemann PE (1989). Determination of accurate extinction coefficients and simultaneous equations for assaying chlorophylls a and b extracted with four different solvents: verification of the concentration of chlorophyll standards by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Biochim Biophys Acta 975: 384-394.
Rodriguez-Amaya DB (1999). A Guide to Carotenoid Analysis in Foods. Washington, DC, USA: ILSI Press.
Russo VM, Howard LR (2002). Carotenoids in pungent and non- pungent peppers at various developmental stages grown in the field and glasshouse. J Sci Food Agric 82: 615-624.
Scalbert A, Monties B, Janin G (1989). Tannins in wood: comparison of different estimation methods. J Agric Food Chem 37: 1324- 1329.
Serrano M, Zapata PJ, Castillo S, Guillen F, Martinez-Romero D, Valero D (2010). Antioxidant and nutritive constituents during sweet pepper development and ripening are enhanced by nitrophenolate treatments. Food Chem 118: 497-503.
Shetty K (2004). Role of proline-linked pentose phosphate pathway in biosynthesis of plant phenolics for functional food and environmental applications: a review. Process Biochem 39: 789-804.
Silva LR, Azevedo J, Pereira MJ, Valentão P, Andrade PB (2013). Chemical assessment and antioxidant capacity of pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) seeds. Food Chem Toxicol 53: 240-248.
Topuz A, Ozdemir F (2003). Influences of γ-irradiation and storage on the carotenoids of sun-dried and dehydrated paprika. J Agric Food Chem 51: 4972-4977.
Topuz A, Ozdemir F (2007). Assessment of carotenoids, capsaicinoids and ascorbic acid composition of some selected pepper cultivars ( Capsicum annuum L.) grown in Turkey. J Food Compos Anal 20: 596-602.
Yang CM, Chang KW, Yin MH, Huang HM (1998). Methods for the determination of the chlorophylls and their derivatives. Taiwania 43: 116-122.
Yasuor H, Firer M, Beit-Yannai E (2015). Protective structures and manganese amendments effect on antioxidant activity in pepper fruit. Sci Hortic 185: 211-218.
Zhang D, Hamauzu Y (2003). Phenolic compound, ascorbic acid, carotenoids and antioxidant properties of green, red and yellow peppers. J Food Agric Environ 1: 22-27.
Zhishen J, Mengchen T, Jianming W (1999). The determination of flavonoid contents in mulberry and their scavenging effects on superoxide radicals. Food Chem 64: 555-559.
Zhuang Y, Chen L, Sun L, Cao J (2012). Bioactive characteristics and antioxidant activities of nine peppers. J Funct Foods 4: 331- 338