The Genus Capsicum: A Review of Bioactive Properties of Its Polyphenolic and Capsaicinoid Composition.

Chili is one of the world's most widely used horticultural products. Many dishes around the world are prepared using this fruit. The chili belongs to the genus Capsicum and is part of the Solanaceae family. This fruit has essential biomolecules such as carbohydrates, dietary fiber, proteins, and lipids. In addition, chili has other compounds that may exert some biological activity (bioactivities). Recently, many studies have demonstrated the biological activity of phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and capsaicinoids in different varieties of chili. Among all these bioactive compounds, polyphenols are one of the most studied. The main bioactivities attributed to polyphenols are antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertensive. This review describes the data from in vivo and in vitro bioactivities attributed to polyphenols and capsaicinoids of the different chili products. Such data help formulate functional foods or food ingredients.

In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Effect, Antioxidant Activity, and Polyphenolic Content of Extracts from Capsicum chinense By-Products.

By-products of Capsicum chinense Jacq., var Jaguar could be a source of bioactive compounds. Therefore, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect, antioxidant activity, and their relationship with the polyphenol content of extracts of habanero pepper by-products obtained from plants grown on black or red soils of Yucatán, Mexico. Moreover, the impact of the type of extraction on their activities was evaluated. The dry by-product extracts were obtained by maceration (ME), Soxhlet (SOX), and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). Afterward, the in vivo anti-inflammatory effect (TPA-induced ear inflammation) and the in vitro antioxidant activity (ABTS) were evaluated. Finally, the polyphenolic content was quantified by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC), and its correlation with both bioactivities was analyzed. The results showed that the SFE extract of stems of plants grown on red soil yielded the highest anti-inflammatory effect (66.1 ± 3.1%), while the extracts obtained by ME and SOX had the highest antioxidant activity (2.80 ± 0.0052 mM Trolox equivalent) and polyphenol content (3280 ± 15.59 mg·100 g-1 dry basis), respectively. A negative correlation between the anti-inflammatory effect, the antioxidant activity, and the polyphenolic content was found. Overall, the present study proposed C. chinense by-products as a valuable source of compounds with anti-inflammatory effect and antioxidant activity.