Paprika carotenoids capsanthin and capsorubin and their biological effects
What it found
Paprika's main carotenoids, capsanthin and capsorubin, act as strong antioxidants and may help prevent obesity-related diseases.
They are absorbed into the blood and found in red blood cells.
What they found
Studies in people
Absorption in the body
Carotenoids from dietary paprika are absorbed into the blood and are detected in red blood cells.
Athletic endurance
They help raise athletes' endurance by lowering oxygen consumption and heart rate.
Animal and lab studies
Antioxidant effect
Capsanthin and capsorubin, the carotenoids typical of paprika, show a strong antioxidative effect.
Obesity-related disease prevention
These carotenoids show a preventive effect on diseases related to obesity.
What the authors conclude
“Dietary paprika carotenoids are absorbed in blood, and they are detected in erythrocytes.”
Also in their conclusions
- They report that paprika carotenoids are absorbed in blood and detected in erythrocytes.
- They state that this contributes to upregulate endurance performance of athletes by reducing oxygen consumption (VO 2 ) and the heart rate.
How it was done
Paprika contains several carotenoids, and capsanthin and capsorubin are the ones most characteristic of paprika.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This summary is based only on the abstract, so details of how the studies were done are not available.
- It is not clear from the abstract whether the findings on obesity-related diseases and endurance come from people, animals or lab tests.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Hirosaki University, Japan; Institute of Health Sciences, Japan; Research Institute for Production Development, Japan
The paper
- Title
- Biological Activities of Paprika Carotenoids, Capsanthin and Capsorubin
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Maeda H, Nishino A, Maoka T (2021). Biological Activities of Paprika Carotenoids, Capsanthin and Capsorubin. Advances in experimental medicine and biology. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-7360-6_26PubMed 33783751DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error