Effect of organic fertilization on capsaicin content in Trinidad Scorpion (Capsicum Chinese) peppers: preliminary results

Capsaicin is a pungent capsaicinoid responsible for the "hot and spicy" taste of chili peppers and pepper extracts. It is a valuable pharmacological agent with several therapeutic applications in controlling pain and inflammation. Emerging studies show that it displays patent anti-tumor activity in several human cancers. A mesocosm experiment was set for testing the influence of the organic fertilization on capsaicin content in Capsicum chinense cv Trinidad Scorpion. Pelletized organic fertilizer from the composted solid fraction of pig slurry (OF) was compared to a mineral fertilizer (MF) and a mixture of organic pellets and mineral fertilizer (OMF). The study investigated the effects of a single application of 2 different doses of nitrogen (38 kg ha-1 and 76 kg ha-1). Peppers were grown and fertilized according to the different treatments and after 500 days from the seeding fruits were collected and their capsaicin content was detected by means of the High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The study shows that the capsaicin content is significantly affected by both the different fertilizers investigated and the nitrogen application rate adopted. The OMF treatment gave the best results in terms of fruit production and led to a percentage of capsaicin five time higher than that obtained with the MF treatment.