## 3 Results and Discussion
### Phytochemical Profile of Bell Pepper Pulp and Bell Pepper Processing By-Products
#### 3.1.2 Assessment of Total Flavonoids Content (TPC)  
The TFC of yellow and red bell pepper pulp and the processing by-products, both fresh and dried, are shown in Figure 2.  
Figure 1: Total phenolic content (TPC) of yellow and red bell pepper pulp and processing by-products, fresh and after drying. The results are expressed as the average value of three determinations \(\pm\) the standard deviation (SD) indicated by the error bars. According to \(t\)-test, the different letters (a–e) represent the significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between the values represented in the columns.  
It was found that the total flavonoid content (TFC) evaluated in yellow and red pepper pulp and by-products resulting from processing, fresh and after drying, showed a similar trend to the TPC profile. The TFC ranged from 3.05-5.54 mg QUE/g d.s. For fresh bell peppers, the TFC content was 5.04 mg QUE/g d.s for the YBPP and 5.54 mg QUE/g d.s for the RBPP.  
In the case of TFC, too, there were significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between fresh bell pepper pulp, fresh by-products, dried pulp, and dried by-products. Fresh by-products of yellow and red bell peppers recorded significantly lower values (\(p<0.05\)) than bell pepper pulp. In addition, after drying, significantly lower values were recorded for dehydrated pulp (4.02 mg QUE/g d.s. DYBPP and 4.82 mg QUE/g d.s. DRBPP) compared to fresh pulp (5.04 mg QUE/g d.s. YBPP and 5.54 mg QUE/g d.s. RBPP) but also for dehydrated by-products (3.05 mg QUE/g d.s. DYBPB and 3.92 mg QUE/g d.s. DRBPB) compared to fresh by-products (3.77 mg QUE/g d.s. YBPB and 4.11 mg QUE/g d.s. RBPP). However, in the dehydrated by-products, a significant TFC content is retained (3.5 mg QUE/g d.s DYBRB and 3.92 mg QUE/g d.s for the DRBPB) confirming from this point of view that the valorisation of yellow and red bell pepper by-products is viable and further use is justified. As in the case of TPC, in this case, the RBPP recorded higher values than the YBPP for both fresh pulp and by-product and dry pulp and dry by-product.  
The values obtained also agree with other studies, which report TFC contents between 3.5-39 mg QUE/g for red bell peppers and between 2.4-33 mg/g for yellow bell peppers [30]. In another study, [PERSON] et al. [28] reported lower amounts of TFC for yellow bell peppers, respectively, between 536.60 and 1111.47 ug QUE/g d.w. [PERSON] et al. [25] reported a higher TFC content in yellow bell peppers (5.82 mg CE/g DW) than in red peppers (5.11 mg CE/g DW). [PERSON] et al. [28] have reported lower amounts of TFC (i.e., between 536.60 and 1111.47 ug QUE/g d.w.) for yellow bell peppers.  
[PERSON] et al. [31] studied the TFC content in pulp and seeds from green, yellow, and red bell pepper. They reported for yellow bell peppers a TFC content of 14.93 ug QUE/g fresh weight (f.w.) for pulp and 3.66 ug QUE/g f.w. for seeds, and red bell peppers 137.43 ug QUE/g f.w. for pulp and 0.54 ug QUE/g f.w. for seeds. The results can be considered in similarity to the results of our study, assessing that the reported values are for the fresh sample and that the moisture content of bell peppers can reach up to 95% [32].  
Figure 2: Total flavonoid content (TPC) of yellow and red bell pepper pulp and processing by-products, fresh and after drying. Results are expressed as the mean value of three determinations \(\pm\) standard deviation (SD) indicated by the error bars. According to the \(t\)-test, different letters (a–e) represent significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between the values represented in the columns.