Exploring the Nutraceutical Potential of Dried Pepper Capsicum annuum L. on Market from Altino in Abruzzo Region

Sweet and hot peppers from Altino are two typical species of Capsicum annuum from Abruzzo region recognized as traditional and local products. The aim of this study is to compare the two type of peppers from Altino in order to delineate their different phytochemical and biological profiles in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we elucidated their phytochemical composition, fatty acids composition and phenolic/flavonoid contents in four types of extracts. Then antioxidant and enzyme inhibition assays have been performed to evaluate their biological properties together with in vitro cell assay and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. Microwave (1000 mg/mL) extract of hot pepper shows the best inhibition value on in vitro cell growth assay, in fact the number of survived cells was about 20% and 40% for microwave and soxhlet extracts, respectively. In vivo anti-inflammatory assay reveals a good activity for both species, which associated to in vitro cell inhibition results, could explain the protective effect on human prostatic hyperplasia