Changes in vitamin c and color during cooking of green peppers (capsicum annuum l)

Abstract

The quality of pepper is mainly valued for flavor, color, and vitamin C. This study explored the effect of cooking on the physicochemical characteristics of the fruits of green pepper. Weighed 150 g, cut to size of 2.2 cm long and 1.3 cm wide and subjected to heat treatment (steam and water for 5 min, and 760 W microwave for 2 min), and quenched proceeded to determine the pH and acidity, vitamin C concentration by the indophenol method, total chlorophyll content by spectrophotometry at 652 nm and the surface color coordinates. After heat treatment the concentration of vitamin C, chlorophyll content and acidity significant differences (p <0.05), in contrast pH, L *, a *, b *, C * and h ° not statistically affected. Vitamin C ranged from 147.84 ± 4.36 and 79.31 ± 5.44 mg ascorbic acid/100 g fresh weight. The total chlorophyll ranged from 4.44 ± 0.04 and 2.61 ± 0.04 mg/ 100 of pepper. In the acidity values were between 0.10 ± 0.005 and 0.07 ± 0.001% citric acid. The microwave cooking method obtains the highest level of retention of vitamin C, and the surface color of green pepper is not affected by the different cooking methods evaluated in this study.