Correlation Between Volatile Compounds and Spiciness in Domesticated and Wild Fresh Chili Peppers

The fruit of chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) is used fresh or dried all over the world because of their unique pungency, color, taste, and aroma. Limited information is available about a hypothetical correlation between volatile organic compound (VOC) emission and spiciness of different pepper species and varieties. The aromatic profile and the pungency of 21 different Capsicum varieties, belonging to four different Capsicum species, have been investigated to evaluate a possible correlation between different VOC emission and their spiciness. The measurement of capsaicinoid concentration was performed by a high-performance liquid chromatography method while the VOCs from fresh samples were extracted using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The partial least squares regression model used for the determination of capsaicin content from VOCs reported high performances (r = 0.84 in the test set). VOCs detected at m/z 103.075 and m/z 43.054 showed a higher contribution in the correlation with the capsaicin content. This study has provided clear and promising results, showing a real possibility to use these tools in routine operations for predicting the spiciness of fresh peppers useful for breeding programs and consumers.