This study was conducted to investigate the effect of ingestion of rice meal with red pepper(Capsicum annuum) as a seasoning upon the plasma gastrin concentration of normal human subjects in Korea. Thirteen normal human subjects including male and female(mean age: 21 years, range: 20~24 years) were studied. After an overnight(about 15 hrs) fast each subject ingested a test meal and a control meal on different days. The test meal consisted of 250 g toiled rice, 250 ml radish soup containing red pepper(dried powder, 3 g), 50 g vegetables and 200 ml barley tea, corresponding to 7.0 g protein, 9.0 g fat and 82 g carbohydrate and the control meal consisted of the same amount as the test meal except that the radish soup was supplied without red pepper. The venous blood samples were drawn before and after the ingestion of meals at the following times: -30, 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min for the measurement of plasma gastrin concentration by means of radioimmunoassay. 1) Plasma gastrin concentration in response to the ingestion of control meal without red pepper increased significantly compared with the concentration in fasting state. 2) The increase of plasma gastrin concentration after the ingestion of test meal(containing red pepper) was significantly higher than that after the control meal. It is inferred from the above mentioned results that the ingestion of red pepper as a seasoning has a stimulatory influence on gastrin release in normal human subjects.