Determination of Capsaicin content and pungency levels in Dalle Khursani accessions, a polyploid Capsicum species specific to Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, India

The genus Capsicum includes more than 30 species, of which only five are cultivated. The pungency in chillies is primarily due to the accumulation of capsaicinoids such as capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, which varies significantly among species and varieties. Dalle Khursani, a unique landrace of Capsicum sp specific to the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya in India, is highly valued for its pungency. However, very limited research exists on the variation of capsaicin content across different accessions of Dalle Khursani. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the capsaicin content and pungency levels of seven accessions collected from diverse altitudinal locations. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify capsaicin content. The concentration of capsaicin varied between 19.05 mg/g to 28.54 mg/g with the corresponding Scoville Heat Units (SHU) ranging from 304,863 to 456,636 revealing the presence of significant variations for pungency within the accessions of Dalle Khursani that may be attributed to genetic or environmental factors. Accessions DK-02 and DK-03 exhibited the highest capsaicin levels despite differing altitudinal growing environments. The results suggest a strong genetic influence on capsaicinoid content, with environmental factors playing a lesser role. For the first time, the capsaicin content and pungency levels in Dalle Khursani accessions are reported in this study.