Passage VI

The hot, spicy flavor of chili peppers is directly proportional to the concentration of capsaicinoids (a class of chemical compounds). Scientists studied the effects of fertilizer application and pepper color on the capsaicinoid concentration of 3 varieties of chili peppers (V1‐V3).

Study

Two hundred V1 plants that were 82 days old were divided into 4 equal groups, and each group was planted in a different plot (Plot L, M, N, or O) in a particular field. This procedure was repeated with V2 and V3 plants in separate, but adjacent, fields. Fertilizer was then applied to the type L plots and the type M plots. Each plot was irrigated equally once every 20 days until harvest. All the peppers in the type L plots and the type N plots were harvested 77 days after planting, while the peppers were still green. All the peppers in the type M plots and the type O plots were harvested 87 days after planting, after the peppers had turned red. Table 1 summarizes, for each plot type, whether fertilizer was applied to the plot and the color of the peppers in the plot at the time of harvest.

Immediately after being harvested, all the peppers were dried at 65°C for 24 hr. Then, for each field, all the dried peppers grown in a given plot were ground up and combined. The total capsaicinord concentration, in miligrams of capsaicinoids per gram of dry pepper (mg/g), was then determined for the peppers from each plot of each field. The results are shown in Table 2.

Tables adapted from Alberto Gonzalez-Zamora et al., “Measurement of Capsaicinolds in Chlltepln Hot Pepper: A Comparison Study between Spectrophotometne Method and High Performance Liquld Chromatography Analysts." @2015 by Alberto Gonzalez-Zamora et al.