## 3 Results and Discussion
### Phytochemical Profile of Bell Pepper Pulp and Bell Pepper Processing By-Products
#### 3.1.3 Chromatographic Evaluation of Individual Polyphenolic Compounds by LC-MS  
The content of polyphenolic compounds identified in samples of yellow and red bell pepper pulp and the processing by-products, both fresh and after drying, is shown in Table 2.  
Eleven polyphenolic compounds were identified in the samples of yellow and red bell pepper pulp, as follows: gallic acid (57.461-123.240 \(\upmu\)g/g), protocatechiu acid (65.426-128.015 \(\upmu\)g/g), caffe acid (0.187-1.796 \(\upmu\)g/g), epicatechin (0.755-3.242 \(\upmu\)g/g), p-coumaric acid (8.042-19.248 \(\upmu\)g/g), ferulic acid (2.557-15.793 \(\upmu\)g/g), rutin (0.567-20.57 \(\upmu\)g/g), rosmarinic acid (0.505-4.601 \(\upmu\)g/g), resveratrol (0.187-0.769 \(\upmu\)g/g), quercetin (55.450-135.852 \(\upmu\)g/g), and kaempfer (8.164-26.088 \(\upmu\)g/g). It should be noted that in all samples examined, quercetin, protocatechiu acid, and gallic acid were found in the highest amounts. Smaller but significant amounts were recorded for p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and kaempfer, while caffeic acid, epicatechin, rutin, rosmarinic acid and resveratrol were identified in smaller amounts. Except for gallic acid and kaempfer, all other compounds were identified in higher proportions in red bell pepper samples than in yellow bell pepper samples. During processing and dehydration, losses were recorded for each polyphenolic compound, the level of losses being higher during the dehydration process. Significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) were found for all identified polyphenols between samples belonging to the four categories: fresh bell pepper pulp (YBPP and RBPP), raw by-products of bell pepper processing (YBPB and RBPB), dehydrated bell pepper pulp (DYBPP and DRBPP), and dehydrated by-products (DYBPB and DRBPB). [PERSON] et al. [8] studied phenolic compounds in yellow and red bell peppers, identifying similar values to those identified in the present study for gallic acid with (115.74 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 119.48 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), ferulic acid (11.88-27.67 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 24.75-35.14\(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), p-coumaric acid (9.96-26.07 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 18.14-2475 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), proto-catechuic acid (97.21 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 95.37 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), quercetin (46.36-91.98 \(\upmu\)g/g for red peppers and 9.66-102.33 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), and kaempfer (31.15 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 9.53 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers). In the same study, the authors identified higher amounts of caffeic acid (41.33-67.78 \(\upmu\)g/g for red bell peppers and 52.42-62.96 \(\upmu\)g/g for yellow bell peppers), epicatechin and rosmarinic acid only for red bell peppers (505 \(\upmu\)g/g respectively 120 \(\upmu\)g/g),  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\ \begin{tabular}{c} **Polyphenolic** \\ **Compound** \\ \end{tabular}  } & \multirow{2}{*}{**RT (Min)**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Compound Content (\(\upmu\)g/g/d.s)**} \\ \cline{3-10}  & & & **YBPP** & **RBPB** & **YBPB** & **DYBPP** & **DDRBPP** & **DRBPP** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{ \begin{tabular}{c} Gallic acid \\ Protocate acid \\ \end{tabular}