[Objective] This study aimed to provide basis for exploring the antimicrobial activity of capsaicin from different Capsicum cultivars and different locations in the same Capsicum fruit. [Method] Capsaicin was extracted from pericarp and seeds of three Capsicum cultivars using the alkaline ethanol extraction method. The antimicro- bial activities of capsaicin against Staphylococcus aureus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Asergillus niger were also studied. [Result] Capsaicin content in the ethanol ex- tracts of three Capsicum fruit followed： C. annuum L. var. conoides〉C, annuum L.〉C. annuum L. var. Iongum, and the capsaicin content in pericarp was 1.5-3.9 times that in seeds. Within the concentration range designed in this experiment （0.5-1.5 mg/ ml）, antimicrobial activities of the ethanol extracts from fruits of three Capsicum culfi- vars against the three experimental strains were obvious, with the highest antimicro- bial activity in C. annuum L., and similar antimicrobial activity in C. annuum L var. Iongum and C. annuum L, var. conoides. [Conclution] Both pericarp and seeds of three Capsicum cultivars contained capsaicinoids with high broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.
