Pepper (Capsicum L.) is a major vegetable and spice crop worldwide. Global production of both fresh and dried fruit continues to increase steadily in terms of area harvested and yield. Various topics are addressed in this review, including recent additions to and clarification of Capsicum taxonomy, genetic resources of Capsicum, cytogenetic studies, the current status of our understanding of the mechanisms affecting the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids, the use of gene mutations to elucidate carotenoid biosynthetic pathways and their regulation, and recent advances in whole-genome sequencing and assembly.

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To date, several research studies addressed the topic of phytochemical analysis of the different coloured pepper berries during ripening, but none discussed it in the case of purple peppers. In this study we examine whether the anthocyanin accumulation of the berries in the early stages of ripening could result in a higher antioxidant capacity due to the elevated amount of polyphenolic compounds. Therefore, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity was measured in four distinct phenophases of fruit maturity. Furthermore, the expression of structural and regulatory genes of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway was also investigated. An overall decreasing trend was observed in the polyphenolic and flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity of the samples towards biological ripeness. Significant changes both in between the genotypes and in between the phenophases were scored, with the genotype being the most affecting factor on the phytonutrients. An extreme purple pepper yielded outstanding results compared to the other genotypes, with its polyphenolic and flavonoid content as well as its antioxidant capacity being the highest in every phenophase studied. Based on our results, besides MYBa (Ca10g11650) two other putative MYBs participate in the regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway.