ORIGINAL PAPER In vitro Assessment of the Bioaccessibility of Carotenoids from Sun-Dried Chilli Peppers Alessandro Pugliese & Yvonne O’Callaghan & Rosa Tundis & Karen Galvin & Francesco Menichini & Nora O’Brien & Monica R. Loizzo Published online: 24 November 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Chilli peppers have been recognized as an excel- lent source of antioxidants as they are rich in bioactive phytochemicals such as carotenoids which are known to exert various beneficial effects in vivo . Absorption is an important factor in the determination of the potential biolog- ical effects of carotenoids. The bioaccessibility of a food constituent such as a carotenoid represents its potential to be absorbed in humans. There is very limited information in the literature regarding the content and bioaccessibility of carot- enoids from dried peppers. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: first, to determine the carotenoid content of 20 varieties of red, orange or yellow coloured sun-dried chilli peppers belonging to either of four Capsicum species (annuum , baccatum , chinense and chacoense ); and second, to quantify the carotenoid micellarization (bioaccessibility) following an in vitro digestion procedure. Red peppers had a higher carotenoid content and bioaccessibility than either the orange peppers or yellow pepper. Xanthophylls showed greater bioaccessibility than carotenes. Our findings confirm that dried chilli peppers are a good source of carotenoids. Keywords Chilli peppers . In vitro digestion . Carotenoids . Sun-dried . Domestic processing . Bioaccessibility Abbreviations DW Dried weight HBSS Hank’ s balanced salts solution SEM Standard error of the mean Introduction Dehydration involves the removal of water in a food to a level at which microbial spoilage reactions are minimized and is one of the most widely used methods for fruit and vegetable preservation. An optimal preservation method decreases the water activity while maintaining the texture, nutritional values and physical properties of the food [1]. There are many methods for drying peppers. However, a traditional method for the preparation of dried peppers used in Calabria (Italy) is to hang the fruits on a thread and allow them to dry under sunlight in the open air. Carotenoids are the pigments responsible for the colour of many types of peppers. In plants, these secondary metabolites play indispensable roles in light harvesting, photo-protection, and as precursors for abscisic acid synthesis. Carotenoids have been used for many years as natural colorants and some of the β-carotenoids are essential components of the human diet as pro-vitamin A. Moreover, carotenoids have been shown to have important biological functions as antioxidants and free- radical scavengers. The main carotenoid in red peppers is capsanthin [2]. A yellow-orange colour is associated with a high content of the carotenoids α- and β-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, and β-cryptoxanthin [3]. Orange coloured peppers are a rich source of zeaxanthin, violaxanthin and β-carotene while A. Pugliese : R. Tundis (*) : F. Menichini : M. R. Loizzo Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy e-mail: rosa.tundis@unical.it A. Pugliese : Y. O’Callaghan : K. Galvin : N. O’Brien School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland Plant Foods Hum Nutr (2014) 69:8–17 DOI 10.1007/s11130-013-0397-2