Investigation of the Total Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity of Three Sweet Pepper Cultivars (Capsicum annuum L.) at Different Development and Maturation Stages

The aim of the current research was to investigate and compare the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of sweet pepper cultivars at different development and maturation stages, in order to optimize the beneficial effects. For that purpose, three important sweet pepper cultivars, namely Dolmy-F1, Yahoo-F1 and Florinis-NS-700, were cultivated in a greenhouse. Their total phenolic content, ascorbic acid content and antioxidant properties were assessed at different development and maturation stages. In the aforementioned cultivars, the total phenolic content ranged from 345.2 to 602.1, 404.9 to 794.5, and 795.7 to 2220.3 μg GAE g−1 FW respectively. The ascorbic acid content ranged from 236 to 957, 258 to 1157, and 410 to 1550 μg AA g−1 FW respectively. The highest antioxidant activity was noted at the red maturity stage. Particularly the cultivar Florinis NS 700 was found to possess higher total phenolic, flavonoid phenol, non-flavonoid phenol, ascorbic acid contents, and greater antioxidant capacity, compared to the other cultivars. The results of our study recommend the consumption of the sweet peppers at red maturity stage, for achieving the maximum health-beneficial effects.