## 3 Results and Discussion
### The Antioxidant Activity Changes  
#### 3.2.1 DPPH  
The total antioxidant activity (TAA) of green pepper was significantly increased by cooking (74.91 TXE \(\upmu\)M/g d.b.) and significantly decreased by microwaving (34.81 TXE \(\upmu\)M/g d.b.) relative to control (47.02 TXE \(\upmu\)M/g d.b.). [PERSON] et al. also observed an increase in total antifree-radical activity (against the DPPH radical) in green bell pepper tissues, following a cooking process for 30 min compared to green peppers cooked for 5 min. This phenomenon was not observed in red peppers [4]. The increase in antioxidant activity observed in our study after the cooking process in green (unripe) pepper may have been due to the higher resistance of lutein to thermal degradation (and lower levels of its leaching from tissues into water) and the release of hydrophilic antioxidant substances, which were tissue in a highly bound form before the processing. It is possible that non-enzymatic conversion of lycopene and \(\upalpha\)-carotene to lutein, whose increased content resulted in an increase in antioxidant activity after the cooking process in green and yellow peppers, also occurred due to high temperature [31]. It is likely that the violaxanthin present in yellow peppers and the lutein abundant in green (unripe) peppers enter the water to a lower extent as a result of cooking. Perhaps the thermal inactivation of certain antioxidant oxidation enzymes, such as pheophorbideoxidase a, which catalyzes the breakdown and oxidation of chlorophyll to phyllobilins, contributes to the increase in TAA after cooking [32; 33]. In addition, the increase in TAA in green peppers may contribute to the violation of the structure of cell walls and subcellular compartments in the tissues during cooking, resulting in the release of large amounts of potent non-polyphenic antioxidants (e.g., glutathione and beta-carotene) that capture free radicals [34]. Similarly, a significant increase in TAA was observed due to cooking (82.96 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.) and significant lowering (significant reduction) due to microwaving (25.03 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.) in yellow peppers relative to controls (57.10 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.). The research conducted by [PERSON] also confirmed that the antioxidant activity of yellow sweet pepper as a result of the process of drying in a hot air convection dryer was significantly reduced (from 269.33 nM TXE to 105.93 nM TXE) [19]. The study by [PERSON] et al. also observed a significant reduction in antifree-radical activity (against the DPPH radical) in green and yellow peppers due to microwave treatment. At the same time, the study by [PERSON] et al. showed no significant reduction in antifree-radical activity after microwave treatment of red peppers [4]. There was a significant decrease in TAA following cooking of red peppers (79.91 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.) (16.08 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.). [PERSON] et al. observed that the TAA of red peppers (the antioxidant activity of the extracts expressed by the IC50 parameter) that were subjected to a similar treatment--blanching with hot water--is significantly reduced compared to control (untreated) samples [21]. In addition to polyphenols, red peppers also contain high amounts of carotenoids and vitamin C, which are responsible for the high TAA of the unprocessed raw material [35]. Thermal processing of food raw materials, such as pasteurization, boiling (as low as 70 \({}^{\circ}\)C) and blanching in a stream of hot water, cause almost complete loss of vitamin C [36]. Perhaps this was the reason that TAA due to cooking was significantly reduced only in red peppers. A significant increase in TAA due to microwave treatment (95.88 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.) was observed in red peppers (79.91 TXE \(\mu\)M/g d.b.). Different results were obtained by [PERSON] et al. according to whom the TAA (measured by the DPPH method) of raw red peppers (which, expressed by the IC50 parameter, was 0.24 mg d.b./mL of extract) significantly decreases (to 0.9 mg d.b./mL of extract) after the microwave drying process [27].