Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Madras 600 025 Manuscript received 28 February 1985, revised 21 April 1986, accepted 9 March 1987 A new spectrophotometric method is reported for the estimation of capsaicin in capsicums and ehilies. Capsaicin forms yellow colour complex with sodium nitrite and sodium tungstate under acidic condition and shows maximum absorbance at 430 nm and obeys Beers law for 2-35 µg capsaicin/ml.