Solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric determination of capsaicin and some of its analogues from chili peppers (Capsicum spp.)

A rapid and accurate method has been developed for the quantitative determination of capsaicin and its most important analogues, dihydrocapsaicin and nordihydrocapsaicin in chili peppers. These components were extracted with methylene chloride and separated from interfering substances with activated charcoal. Further cleanup on Florisil cartridges and elution with ethyl acetate were performed before gas chromatographic with mass spectrometric quantitation. The concentrations found were 440 +/- 64 mu g/g capsaicin, 81 +/- 10 mu g/g dihydrocapsaicin, and 11 +/- 2 mu g/g nordihydrocapsaicin. The mean recovery values for triplicate analysis were between 85-94%.