Phytochemical and Antioxidant Profiling of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Landraces from Hilly Regions of India

The present study was carried out to assess the phytochemical and antioxidant potential of 24 chilli landraces grown in hilly regions of India viz. Himachal Pradesh & Assam and genotypes were evaluated for different phytochemical parameters and antioxidant assays. Highest total sugar (3.43 %), reducing sugar (2.22 %), polyphenolic content (153.85 mg /100g GAE), total carotenoids (101.66 mg/100g), ascorbic acid (12.85 mg/100g) and reducing power assay (70.76 mM/g TE) were found in the genotype ‘Chilli SC-1’, while ‘Chilli CHI-15’ was found superior for total flavonoid content (547.01 mg/100g QE). The genotype, ‘Chilli SC-1’followed ‘Chilli L-2’ were found best owing to their Trolox equivalent antioxidant activity. The above results were also confirmed with spectral studies using FT-IR spectroscopy and genotype ‘Chili SC-1’ was found best in all the concerned parameters as the highest peaks of the respective sample were observed concerning all other samples. Further, principal component analysis indicated that the genotype ‘Chilli SC-1’, ‘Chilli LC-2’, ‘Chilli AC-9’ and ‘Chilli AC-10’ are the major contributors to divergence within different quality traits under study.