Study to determine the harvest time pepper fruits (Piper nigri L) suitable for processing process of red pepper products

Abstract

The pepper plant's scientific name is Piper nigri L and is widely grown in Vietnam, especially in Quang Tri province. Pepper fruits often contains aromatic ingredients, spicy flavor ingredients and biologically active ingredients. The typical chemical components in pepper fruits are essential oils and alkaloids. These components in pepper fruits often change at different times of growth. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate harvesting time of pepper fruits for processing red pepper products. The experiment was conducted with pepper fruits harvested at 220 days, 225 days and 230 days after fruiting. Based on the changes in physical and mechanical index, nutritional index and sensory index, it is necessary to choose the time to harvest pepper fruits from 225 to 230 days from fruit set to process red pepper products. Because at this time, the pepper fruit has a weight of 0.12 ± 0.01 g, diameter of 6.3 ± 0.1 mm, height of 5.9 ± 0.1 mm, hardness of 7.87 ± 0.21 kg/ cm², shell percentage 38.79 ± 0.09% and seed percentage 61.21 ± 0.08%, alkaloid content ranges from 0.06 to 0.08%, essential oil content ranges from 2.78 to 2.92%. Pepper fruit has a more attractive color, smell, taste and structure, a more even red color, a sharper taste and a crispier seed structure when harvested 220 days after fruiting.