Current Situation of Red Pigment Extraction from Sweet Paprika

Current Status of Capsicum Red Pigment Production

Currently, there are three main methods for extracting capsicum red pigment both domestically and internationally: oil-soluble extraction, solvent extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction. In oil-soluble extraction, separating the oil and pigment is difficult, resulting in a less concentrated pigment. Supercritical fluid extraction requires significant equipment investment and advanced operational techniques, making it difficult to promote. Therefore, most manufacturers both domestically and internationally currently use solvent extraction. Solvent extraction can be further divided into maceration, percolation, reflux extraction, and Soxhlet extraction based on the operating method. All of these methods require the chili peppers to be pulverized into powder before extraction, resulting in high operating costs. Furthermore, the residue after extraction still contains a considerable amount of red pigment, leading to high impurity content in the crude product, expensive refining, and poor usability of the residue, all of which pose challenges to production.

2. Advantages of the New Process