Abstract: In order to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the main Capsicum annuum cultivars cultivated in Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province under drought stresses and its relationship with the purpling degrees of the cultivars, the specific activities of antioxidases and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the leaves of the five main C. annuum cultivars including ‘ZSZ75-1’, ‘ZSZ49-1-1’, ‘12WS-18-1’, ‘12ZH01’ and ‘ZS130’ cultivated in Wenshan were studied by using spectrophotometry under the drought stress simulated by PEG-6000, and the comprehensive antioxidant capacity of the leaves was evaluated by using subordinate function. The results showed that under the drought stress simulated by PEG-6000, the content of soluble protein in the leaves of the five cultivars was ‘ZSZ75-1’＞‘12ZH01’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’＞‘12WS-18-1’＞‘ZS130’, the specific activity of catalase (CAT) was ‘ZSZ75-1’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’＞‘ZS130’＞‘12WS-18-1’＞‘12ZH01’, the specific activity of peroxidase (POD) was ‘ZSZ75-1’＞‘ZS130’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’＞‘12WS-18-1’＞‘12ZH01’, the specific activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was ‘12WS-18-1’＞‘ZS130’＞‘12ZH01’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’＞‘ZSZ75-1’, and the content of MDA was ‘ZSZ75-1’＞‘12WS-18-1’＞‘12ZH01’＞‘ZS130’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’. However, the differences of the contents of the soluble protein and MDA and the specific activities of CAT and SOD of the five cultivar leaves were not significant, whereas the difference of POD specific activity was siginificant. The comprehensive antioxidant ability of the five cultivars was ‘ZS130’＞‘ZSZ49-1-1’＞‘ZSZ75-1’＞‘12WS-18-1’＞‘12ZH01’. Thus, the anthocyanin accumulation in the specific organs of the main C. annuum cultivars in Wenshan does not contribute to the strengthening of the leaf antioxidant capacity under drought stress. This study could provide a reference for the drought resistance evaluation, the exploration of the relationship between the anthocyanin accumulation and drought resistance, and the selection of the new drought resistant cultivars of C. annuum in Wenshan.