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Capsaicin and ascorbic acid contents of twenty four Indian chilli varieties/accessions from Capsicum annuum (2011/CHIVAR-1,2011/CHIVAR-2, 2011/CHIVAR-3, 2011/CHIVAR-4, 2011/CHIVAR-5, 2011/CHIVAR-6, 2011/CHIVAR-7, 2011/CHIVAR-8, 2011/CHIVAR-9, KA-2(C), LCA-334(C), UTKAL AVA(L.C), 2012/CHIVAR-2, 2012/CHIVAR-3, 2012/CHIVAR-4, 2012/CHIVAR-5, 2012/CHIVAR-6, 2012/CHIVAR-8, 2012/CHIVAR-9, 2013/CHIVAR-1, 2013/CHIVAR-2, 2013/CHIVAR-3, 2013/CHIVAR-4, UTKAL RASHMI(L.C) were determined using High Performance Thin Layer Liquid Chromatography (HPTLC) and Volumetric method. Based on their pungency value, all the chilli accession/varieties were classified as highly pungent peppers. The accession 2011/CHIVAR-6 recorded maximum capsaicin content 50890mg/100g DW followed by 2011/CHIVAR-5 45800mg/100g DW, LCA-334 44540mg/100g DW and 2011/CHIVAR-7 40300mg/100g DW were observed to be similar and better than Utkal Ava 1070mg/100g DW KA-2 2890mg/100g DW, Utkal Rashmi 3430mg/100g DW. The minimum 500mg/100g DW was recorded by the genotype 2011/CHIVAR-8. In case of green chilli, maximum ascorbic acid was recorded in 2011/CHIVAR-2 (112 mg 100 g-1) closely followed by 2012/CHIVAR-4 (101.33 mg 100 g-1), 2011/CHIVAR-6 (77.33 mg 100 g-1) and 2011/CHIVAR-9 (74.67 mg 100 g-1). Lowest ascorbic acid content was found in 2013/CHIVAR-2 (26.67 mg 100 g-1). Similarly, Ascorbic acid content of red ripe fruits of the chilli genotypes, had a wide range of variation (45.33 mg to 317.33 mg 100 g-1 FW). Maximum ascorbic acid content of 317.33 mg 100 g-1 FW was recorded in 2011/CHIVAR-3 followed by 2011/CHIVAR-4 (304 mg 100 g-1 FW) and 2011/CHIVAR-1 (290.67 mg 100 g-1) which were better than the rest. The genotype KA-2 recorded minimum ascorbic acid content of 45.33 mg 100g-1 FW. The variability in capsaicin and ascorbic acid content presented in the pepper germplasm can be exploited for breeding cultivars with improved nutritional qualities.

Key words: Capsicum annuum, Pungency, Vitamin C.