Exploring Antioxidant Capacities of Phenolic Compounds in Diverse Pepper Accessions Under Meloidogyne incognita Nematode Infestation

Pepper is among the crops of agricultural importance as their fruit provides economic, nutritional and medicinal value as well as being an excellent source of antioxidant compounds and natural colours. It contains phenolics defend plants against pathogen infections. The study evaluated the antioxidant activities of phenolic content of different accessions of pepper commonly used in food. The total phenolic content and tannins were extracted according to standard methods. Results show that the extracts from the roots of pepper accessions/variety, NGB00574, NGB00587, NGB00629, and the local variety (LV) contained high concentrations of tannins, polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase, compared to the remaining varieties tested, indicating the level of their responses to Meloidogyne attack. Findings from this study, suggest the potency of pepper phenolics in reducing infection of pathogens in crop production. The present study show that five of the ten peppers possessed rich quantities of natural antioxidants and can further be investigated for their possible use by farmers in areas prone to high nematodes infection.