GC-MS Investigation of the Aroma Compounds of Hungarian Red Paprika (Capsicum annuum) Cultivars

Simultaneous distillation–extraction method has been developed for the GC–MS measurement of ground red paprika volatile compounds. The applied benzenemethanol internal standard ensures precise control and determination of the preparation efficiency. MS identification discovered characteristic differences among sweet and hot cultivars. By measuring theP rogrammed T emperature R etention I ndices (PTRI) (after having added) four appropriate hydrocarbons before chromatography) of the components and normalizing the peak areas to one of the most intense chromatographic peaks (methylhexadecanoate), the absolute chromatograms turn into relative “aroma spectra”. The run by run PTRI determination and peak area normalization resulted in nearly distortion-free measurement of the compound ratios that are much more characteristic of the aroma patterns than the absolute amounts themselves.