The Influence of Compost on Antioxidant Activities and Quality of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Compost has been considered as a valuable fertilizer for sustainable agriculture. In order to determine the effect of Compost (CO) on antioxidant compounds and fruit quality of hot pepper (Capsicum annum L.), an experiment was conducted in open field. Treatments consisted of four levels of compost (0, 5, 10 and 15 t ha-1). The experiment was designed in randomized block design with three replications. Fruit antioxidant compounds (antioxidant activity, total phenolic, total flavonoid and B-carotene) were influenced by compost treatments. But, no significant difference was found in capsaicin content between compost and control treatments. The highest total phenolic (80 mg 100 g-1) and B-carotene (102 mg Kg -1) were obtained in plants treated with 10 ton ha-1 of compost, while the lowest values were recorded in the control (64.5 mg 100 g-1 and 73.3 mg Kg -1, respectively). Ascorbic acid and carbohydrate content significantly increased in response to compost treatments and the highest value ascorbic acid (162.8 mg 100 g-1) and carbohydrate content (108.2 mg g-1) were obtained from 15 t ha-1 of treatment. Thus; these results showed that compost has the strong impact on antioxidant compounds and quality of pepper plants under field conditions.