PRESTORAGE MOISTURE-CONTENT AFFECTS COLOR LOSS OF GROUND PAPRIKA (CAPSICUM-ANNUUM L.) UNDER STORAGE

Ground paprika samples from cultivars 'B-18' and 'NuMex Sweet' were ad justed to different prestorage moisture contents and stored under ambi ent temperature (19C-24C) and humidity (24-42%), Moisture content, wat er activity, extractable color, and surface color were determined befo re storage and then monthly for four months. Prestorage moisture conte nts equilibrated during storage. At the end of the storage period all samples had about 10% moisture content. Samples with 6% or 9% prestora ge moisture content had 92% and 90% extractable color loss, respective ly, for 'B-18' paprika and 84% and 83% color loss for 'NuMex Sweet' pa prika, respectively. In contrast, samples stored at higher moisture co ntents had less color loss. Color loss after four months storage was 5 3% and 32% for 'B-18' and 51% and 30% for 'NuMex Sweet' at 15% and 18% prestorage moisture contents, respectively. Surface color was also af fected by moisture content.