Metabolomics application in the development of an innovative methodology for pepper pungency analysis

• Grant number: 19/23723-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: June 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Ramos Catharino
• Grantee: Mariana Mazzo Quintanilha
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Peppers are fruits widely used since antiquity through their application in the area of food and cosmetology, in addition to their considerable therapeutic applicability and high economic value. In Brazil, the distribution of production is from Rio Grande do Sul to Roraima, which ranks it among the 10 most produced vegetables in the country. The importance of pepper, especially in the area of food, is due to one of its organoleptic characteristics, the pungency. This characteristic is provided by a group of compounds called capsaicinoids, produced as secondary metabolites of the plant and used as defense substances. The main compounds studied are capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, however there are few studies aimed at investigating the synergistic effect of these compounds and their effects on the pungency scale of peppers. Considering this factor, metabolomics allows a holistic study of food, and mass spectrometry is shown as a sensitive and robust analytical tool. With the advances in metabolomics and its application in the food field, the use of high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) becomes a tool for the development of an innovative methodology that can identify and semi-quantify biomarkers of the pungency of pepper varieties consumed in Brazil and worldwide, determining a classification based on their chemical characteristics. (AU)