The pharmacological and culinary usefulness of hot pepper fruits is determined, among others, by the content of capsaicinoids that give hot peppers a pungent burning taste. The content of these compounds in hot pepper is primarily determined by the genetic traits of a cultivar and is modified by various factors: weather conditions during the growing season, fertilization, harvest time, and fruit maturity stage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fruit maturity stage: green fruits, fruits turning colour as well as physiologically mature fruits (red), and fruit harvest date: the first and third decade of September, on the content of capsaicinoids in four hot pepper cultivars: ‘Cyklon’, ‘Orkan’, ‘Rokita’, and ‘Bronowicka Ostra’. In this study, which was carried out in 2005 and 2006, the content of capsaicinoids (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) was measured by HPLC. The highest amount of capsaicinoids was obtained in the fruits of hot pepper that were harvested at the initial stage of maturity – in green fruits (on average 309 mg∙kg^-1), compared to fruits turning red (258) and red fruits (250 mg∙kg^-1). Peppers selected in the third decade of September contained more capsaicinoids (on average 301 mg∙kg^-1) than those harvested in the first decade of this month (243 mg∙kg^-1). Fruits of the evaluated cultivars differed in capsaicinoids content; on average it ranged from 212 (‘Cyklon’) to 326 mg∙kg^-1 (‘Bronowicka Ostra’). In fruits of all the quantitative ratio of capsaicin to dihydrocapsaicin was at a similar level, ranging between 11.9 and 12.9. The capsaicinoids content in fruits of the investigated cultivars differed between years 2005 (302) and 2006 (243 mg∙kg^-1).

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