Capsaicin(CAP) is a pungent ingredient of hot pepper that has been used as a spicy food additive, pre-servative, and medicine. In this study, the effect of CAP on L-ascorbic acid(AsA)level in various tissues as well as its urinary excretion. and drug-metabolizing enzyme activity in rats were investigated. Rats fed AsA-deficient diets for 17days were injected intraperitoneally with 1mg of CAP in 0.5ml of ethanol-Tween 80-saline(20 :10 : 70, v/v/v). Control rats received the equal volume of the same solution without CAP. Urine was collected for 3 day after the CAP injection, and after 5 days tissues were removed; their AsA contents were measured by high performance liquid chromatography combined with and electrochemical detector. In addition, hepatic microsomal ethoxyresorfin O-deethylase(EROD) activity as measured. Urinary AsA excretion changed significantly following CAP injection. One and two days after CAP injection, the urinary AsA increased 2-and 3-fold in the CAP injected group, compared to the control, but the contents of adrenal glands and brain were lower than those of the control Dehydroascorbic acid contents in adrenal glands of the CAP injected group were higher than that of the control These results suggested that a single large dose of CAP could temporarily cause the redistribution of AsA in tissues accompanying by its urinary excretion, by affecting probably a biological system including mixed function oxygenase system(MFOS)