Geographical Discrimination of Bell Pepper () Spices by (HS)-SPME/GC-MS Aroma Profiling and Chemometrics.

Dried and ground red pepper is a spice used as seasoning in various traditional dishes all over the world; nevertheless, the pedoclimatic conditions of the diverse cultivation areas provide different chemical characteristics, and, consequently, diverse organoleptic properties to this product. In the present study, the volatile profiles of 96 samples of two different ground bell peppers harvested in diverse Italian geographical areas, Altino (Abruzzo) and Senise (Lucania), and a commercial sweet paprika, have been studied by means of headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The investigation of their volatile profile has led to the identification of 59 analytes.