Assessment of Bioactive Compounds in Red Peppercorns (Piper nigrum L.) for the Development of Red Peppercorns Powder

Red pepper powder is used as a spice added to various types of foods to improve the spiciness and aroma of foods. The unique aroma and spiciness of red pepper are related to the contents of bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, phenolic compounds, terpenes, and flavonoids. These phytochemical compounds have extensively provided many biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial. The assessment of bioactive compounds in red pepper is crucial to evaluate the quality of red pepper powder. Therefore, the objective of this study aimed to analyze total phenolic and total flavonoid compounds for further red peppercorn powder application. To assess the contents of bioactive compounds, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Box–Behnken Design (BBD) was applied to design the experiment and analyze the data. Furthermore, extraction conditions such as extraction time (30 to 150 min), temperature (35 to 65 °C), and solid-to-solvent ratio (0.5:10 to 0.5:20 g/mL) were investigated for their effects on the yield of total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. The result of this study found that all extraction parameters significantly affected the extraction yields of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The aroma and taste of red pepper powder can be adjusted by changing extraction conditions such as temperature, time, and solid-to-solvent ratio because changing these conditions allowed the bioactive compounds to be extracted from red pepper at different concentrations. Overall, the assessment of bioactive compounds in red peppercorns holds significant importance for their application as red peppercorn powder.