Pungency threshold of capsaicin produced byin vitroculture of placental tissues ofcapsicum frutescensmill.

Production of capsaicin in free and immobilized placenta was compared in order to assess their capsaicin production ability. In immobilized placenta, maximum accumulation of capsaicin was on the 14th day of culture with a production of 2045 ug/culture, whereas in free placenta, the accumulation reached maximum on the 7th day (2050ug/culture). It was found that there was no significant difference between free and immobilized placenta in terms of capsaicin production, suggesting that immobilization is not necessary to enhance capsaicin accumulation in piacentai tissue. Pungency threshold of capsaicin produced in in vitro grown free piacentai tissues of Capsicum frutescens was done by Scoville heat units (SHU) method. Pungency analysis of capsaicin produced in free piacentai tissue showed that on day zero, pungency of tissue culture produced capsaicin (0.2267x105 SHU) was comparable to standard natural capsaicin (0.222×105 SHU), while on the 3rd day pungency of tissue culture produced capsaicin (0.3639×105 SHU) was slightly lower than standard natural capsaicin (0.4415×105 SHU).