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Updated: Oct 24, 2026
Untargeted Metabolomics from Biological Sources Using Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS)
Published on: May 20, 2013
Beyond the red carolina reaper: capsaicinoid variability across colour morphs revealed by HPLC-validated SWV
Gabriela Machura1, Dariusz Guziejewski2, Kamila Koszelska2
1University of Lodz, Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Pomorska 163/165, Lodz, 90-236, Poland; BioMedChem Doctoral School of the University of Lodz and Lodz Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Matejki 21/23, Lodz, 90-237, Poland.
Abstract:
Strongly overlapping voltammetric signals limit the individual determination of capsaicin (CAP) and dihydrocapsaicin (DHC) in pepper extracts. This study evaluated square-wave voltammetry (SWV) combined with Lorentzian signal deconvolution using HPLC as a reference method. Eleven commercially available Carolina Reaper-derived colour morphs were represented by one pooled sample each. Reliable deconvolution was achieved for nine samples, with the resulting individual CAP and DHC contents showing good agreement with HPLC measurements. Separately, total CAP and DHC contents determined by SWV and HPLC were strongly correlated (R2 = 0.992). Among the analysed samples representing different colour morphs, Stinger and Rustic had the highest combined CAP and DHC contents, whereas Cream, Olive, Mustard, and Yellow had lower levels. These findings support the feasibility of the deconvolution approach for the successfully resolved extracts and provide an exploratory chemical comparison of the sampled commercial morphs.
