Peppers, Capsicum annum L.var. longum, are a variety which belong to well-known commercial and industrial plants (Lim, 2013). This species boasts wonderful spice qualities. It gives delicious taste, smell and colour to all different dishes. It is used both in fresh as well as dried form. There is a higher consumption of the sweet pepper, but hot pepper is also popular. Mature peppers are dried and ground until fine powder is made (Rehuš and Valšíková, 2016). In Slovakia, the consumption of sweet ground pepper per capita is 100 – 200 g a year (Valšíková, Červenka and Sudzina, 2010).

According to Habán, Černá and Dančák (2001), the consumption of sweet pepper in Slovakia has increased from 50 to 100 g per capita a year. Usage of spices such as paprika or pepper spices are also of great economical interest (Škrovánková et al., 2017). Nowadays, only around half the volume of the Slovak consumption of peppers is produced in the territory of Slovakia, the rest is transported from abroad. The production of spice pepper in the most fertile districts of Slovakia is gradually decreasing, as is the production of sweet peppers. (Valšíková, Ryban and Srničková, 2014). One of the most important qualitative parameters of sweet pepper is the content of carotenoid pigments and total sugars. Pepper fruits include carotenoid pigments, mainly carotene, capsanthin, cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin. The amount of red pigments determines the colour intensity of the final product (Muchová et al., 2001). Capsorubin is the main colouring constituent. From the total amount of sugars, peppers contain 90 – 98% of dextrose, the rest is accounted for fructose and sucrose.

The final quality of the products is influenced mainly by the quality of fruits as well as by the processing technology – drying and grinding. „Paprika Žitava/Žitavská paprika“, which was entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications by the European Commission on the 11th of February 2014 (Commission Regulation (EU) no. 126/2014), belongs to a group of products with superb quality. Paprika Žitava is sweet ground pepper made by grinding the dried spice pepper fruits harvested in the area of Podunajská nížina (Danubian Lowlands). The fruits are state-recognized varieties that are picked intact when ripe and then they undergo a special postharvest treatment.

„Paprika Žitava/Žitavská paprika“ gets its characteristic intense colour from the final stage in the grinding process on what is known as the ‘colouring stone’; as pressure is applied, the temperature rises and the oil contained in the seeds is released, which is what imparts the characteristic orange-red colour (Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006).

The laboratory analyses determined the content of pigments and sugars in 6 samples of ground sweet pepper. In 2015 the highest content of pigments was discovered in these varieties: Dvorská and Kolora, equally 6.68 g.kg⁻¹ and the lowest content was determined within the variety Žitavská 5.42 g.kg⁻¹ (Figure 1).

In 2016 the highest content of pigments we find in the variety Dvorská 6.94 g.kg⁻¹ and the lowest content 4.93 g.kg⁻¹ in Slovenský polotovar (Figure 1).

In 2015 the highest average content of total sugars we confirmed in Paprika Žitava (20.5%) and in Slovenský polotovar (24.5%) in 2016. The lowest content of total sugars in 2015 we discovered in the variety Žitava (5.85%). In 2016 the variety Kolora showed the lowest content of total sugars (7.25%) (Figure 2). The most important requirement of ground red pepper is the pigment content. Pigment synthesis begins on the plant during growing and ripening. Later after harvest and continues throughout the drying (Kerek et al., 2015).

Table 1 shows the observed average results as discovered over the duration of two years.

Over the year 2015 and 2016 the laboratory tests examined the content of sweet pepper pigments as recorded from the dry matter. The average content of pigments ranged between 5.42 – 6.68 g.kg⁻¹.

The highest content of pigments was recorded in the following varieties Dvorská and Kolora, variete Dvorská 6.94 g.kg⁻¹ (2016) and 6.68 g.kg⁻¹ (2015), and Kolora 6.68 g.kg⁻¹ (2015) and 6.11 g.kg⁻¹ (2016). The sample Paprika Žitava also showed high contents of pigments during both years 2015 and 2016 – in 2015 it was 6.22 g.kg⁻¹ and in 2016 it was 6.38 g.kg⁻¹. The products bought abroad also showed high contents of pigments, the Chinese sample had the following average content of pigments 6.54 g.kgˉ¹ in 2015 and 5.29 g.kg⁻¹. The lowest content of pigments was recorded in the sample Slovenský polotovar (4.93 g.kg⁻¹) in 2016. The tests also found statistically significant differences in the average content of pigments in the majority of varieties as well as in different years.

The average content of total sugars ranged in the analysed years from 5.85% (Žitavská, 2015) up to 24.5% (Slovenský polotovar, 2016).

In 2015 it was Paprika Žitava which achieved the highest content of total sugars (20.5%) and Slovenský polotovar (24.5%) in 2016. Žitava also recorded the average content of sugars above 20% in both analyzed years and truly the sweetness is its most distinguishing feature. The majority of samples also showed statistically significant differences in the content of total sugars as well as in the analyzed years.