Abstract
A highly sensitive liquid chromatographic procedure with electrochemical detection (ECD) was developed to separate and quantitate major capsaicins, the pungent principles of red and green pepper. Although complete chromatographic separation of capsaicins from piperines was not achieved, electrochemical (EC) monitoring at 0.4V applied potential detected only the electroactive capsaicins. Ultraviolet (UV) monitoring at 340 nm detected only the strongly absorbing piperine. Thus, simultaneous determination of capsaicins and piperine were achieved by the applications of both EC and UV detections.