Evolution of the carotenoid content has been studied during dehydration process of red pepper fruits (Capsicum annuum L.) for paprika production using a handcrafted technique, typical of La Vera County (Spain), which is based on slow drying at mild temperatures, conditions that were monitored during the complete process, to correlate the evolution of the pigment content with drying parameters. This tracking allowed to state that during drying of fruits, the carotenoid content goes through different stages either decreases or increases which are reflect of the processing conditions. In the present study, when imposed conditions were milder a more regular evolution was denoted, while more severe temperature-time regimes meant an irregular trend, although dry fruits contained similar carotenoid values with respect to the starting ones in all cases. Considering different isochromic carotenoid fractions and major individual pigments, the study revealed that any of them are preferentially either degraded or biosynthesised, what implies a certain balance between different groups of reactions that carried out during dehydration. In the sight of the positive retention of the carotenoid content and retinol equivalent values, conditions achieved in one dryer could be used by paprika producer for subsequent standardization of this traditional process by using the proper technical equipment.
