preview

Hplc Analysis of Capsaicin Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

HPLC Analysis of Capsaicin Eric Sorenson Work Completed on 11/28/12 Quantitative analysis of Capsaicin was analyzed in three peppers that were expected to differ greatly in their capsaicin content and thus their relative spiciness. The idea was to have a nice range of capsaicin concentrations to clearly reflect the subjective pain one experiences from biting into a chili. Fresh Habanero, Jalapeno and Red Bell Pepper were purchased from the local Family Fresh grocery store to be analyzed via HPLC. This capsaicin project consisted of three stages to ensure proper and accurate analysis. The first stage was the preparation of the three samples for injection into the HPLC. One gram of fine powder of each pepper was obtained by …show more content…

UV lamp detector set at 215 nm. Injection volume of 20 µL and a flow rate of 2.0 mL/min. The total run time was eight minutes. Solvent A consisted of 100% water with 0.1% TFA. Solvent B was a 80% ACN/20% water solution with 0.1% TFA. A gradient elution was programmed for 20% to 100% solvent B in five minutes then return to 20% solvent B for the last three minutes. The last stage of the project was the actual sample analysis. The HPLC was programmed to run a reinjection of the calibration standard, a reinjection of the blank, then two injections of each sample A, B and C respectively under the same conditions as described above. Once the chromatograms were obtained and assistance from Dr. Marchand was needed in order to identify significant peaks. Calculations were then done on all three samples to quantitate the amount of capsaicin in each pepper. See calculations page. The concentration of capsaicin in the habanero pepper was calculated to be 207 µg of capsaicin per gram of pepper. Jalapeno was 70.9 µg of capsaicin per gram of pepper and red bell pepper was 8.033 µg of capsaicin per gram of pepper. The results of this analysis seemed to live up to my expectations and what I wanted to demonstrate by analyzing three different peppers spanning a wide range of capsaicin content. Habanero peppers are notoriously known for their high scoville heat value and usually one plump habanero pepper

Get Access