Classification of chili powder (Capsicum annuum L.) antioxidant activity based on near infrared spectra

Testing the antioxidant activity of chili powder is often destructive; these methods are expensive, complicated, and lengthy analysis time. Meanwhile, information on antioxidant activity is needed by the industry to determine its quality class in rapid and uncomplicated handling. Therefore, this study was aimed to measure the antioxidant activity of chili powder and classify it into three quality classes, namely high, medium, and low, using Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy at spectral wavelengths of 1000-2500 nm and combined with chemometric techniques. The antioxidant activity of the sample was evaluated using the DPPH assay. Processing of the data started with outlier detection using Hotelling's T2, then confirmed using leverage analysis and influence plot. The data were then processed with Smoothing-Savitzky Golay, SNV, and De-Trending. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed for classifying the samples, which were validated with full cross-validation. The results showed that the antioxidant activity was detected at a range of 1395-2390 nm. De-Trending was the best pre-treatment that successfully classified the low and high levels of antioxidant activity with a success rate of 100 and classified a medium level of antioxidant activity with a success rate of 96.97. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Rynnye Lyan Resources.