Compositional Analysis of Sweet Italian (Capsicum annuum) and Habanero (Capsicum annuum) Peppers Consumed in Benue State, Nigeria

This study investigates the physico-chemical properties and Fourier transform infrared spectral analyses of Sweet Italian (Capsicum annum) and Habanero (Capsicum chinense) pepper varieties. The two varieties of pepper were harvested fresh and dried using local drying equipment and ground into powder using a laboratory blender. The proximate composition results showed that the Sweet Italian pepper (SIP) possessed higher moisture (8.89%), crude fat (5.33%), crude protein (9.32%) and carbohydrate (51.5%) contents than the Habanero pepper (HNP). SIP showed higher content of the major (Na, K, Mg, Ca & P) and trace (Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn) minerals when compared to the HNP. The results of the infrared spectrum analysis of the two varieties of SIP and HNP showed that these pepper varieties had similar infrared spectra lines that are dominated by alcohol/phenol groups, alkanes, alkenes and amine groups, corresponding to the frequencies in the range 3435.44-675.11 cm-1 for the phenols, 1037, 1379-1458 cm-1for the alkanes group, 1637.62-920.08cm-1for the alkenes and 719.47-817.57 cm-1for amine groups. The result indicated that the two varieties of peppers SIP and HNP having similar spectra lines, may also possess similar structural properties.