Capsicol
Capsicol is a trade designation for capsicum oleoresin, the solvent extracted concentrate of dried fruits of Capsicum species. It is a dark red to reddish brown viscous liquid containing the full lipid soluble fraction of the pod: the capsaicinoids that carry pungency, the carotenoid pigments capsanthin and capsorubin that carry colour, the volatile oil that carries aroma, and the natural waxes and fatty material of the fruit.
Its function in food is to deliver heat, colour and pepper aroma in a form that is standardised and free of the microbiological load, moisture and bulk of ground chilli. One kilogram of oleoresin replaces many kilograms of ground pod, and because pungency is measured analytically as capsaicinoid content the material can be dosed to a defined heat level rather than by taste.
It is insoluble in water and soluble in oils, ethanol and propylene glycol, and is normally sold either as the neat oleoresin or diluted in a vegetable oil or polysorbate carrier so that it can be pumped and dosed. Neat material is very viscous and is warmed before handling. Capsaicinoids are irritant to skin, eyes and airways, so the concentrate is handled with local extraction and protective equipment even though the finished food contains only traces.
We source bulk Capsicol from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Sichuan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dark red to reddish brown viscous homogeneous liquid |
| Odour and taste | Characteristic of dried red capsicum, strongly pungent |
| Total capsaicinoids | To declared value, commonly 2 to 8 percent |
| Pungency | To declared Scoville heat units consistent with capsaicinoid assay |
| Colour value | To declared ASTA units, negligible in decolourised grades |
| Volatile oil | To declared value for the grade |
| Solubility | Soluble in vegetable oil and ethanol, insoluble in water |
| Refractive index at 20 degrees Celsius | Within agreed range for the grade |
| Residual solvent | 25 mg per kg maximum for hexane |
| Moisture | 1.0 percent maximum |
| Lead | 2 mg per kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 1 mg per kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu per gram maximum |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 grams |
Common Markets Grades
Pungency is the main basis of grading, declared either as Scoville heat units or, more precisely, as total capsaicinoid content determined by liquid chromatography, with commercial lines running from around one hundred thousand Scoville units to well over a million for concentrated grades. Colour is the second, expressed as colour value in ASTA units, and the two are traded largely independently because the pods used for heat are not the pods used for colour.
That gives three broad product families. Pungent capsicum oleoresin is sold on capsaicinoid content and carries colour incidentally. Paprika oleoresin from sweet pods is sold on colour value with negligible heat. Decolourised capsicum oleoresin has had the carotenoids removed so that heat can be added to a product without changing its colour, which is the grade used in clear beverages, white sauces and pharmaceutical preparations. Within each family, material is offered neat or standardised in vegetable oil, as a water dispersible form emulsified with polysorbate, and as a spray dried powder on a starch or maltodextrin carrier for dry blends. Solvent residue specification separates food grade material from technical grade.
Applications
- Snack seasonings and topical dusts, where the powdered form gives even heat distribution across a crisp
- Instant noodle sauce sachets and soup bases, dosed to a defined Scoville level for batch consistency
- Hot sauces and condiment manufacture, standardising the heat of a batch that varies with the pod crop
- Processed meat and sausage seasoning, delivering pungency without adding moisture or microbial load
- Retort and canned foods, where the heat stable capsaicinoids survive sterilisation intact
- Emulsified sauces and dressings, using the water dispersible form so the heat does not concentrate in the oil phase
- Pickle and preserved vegetable brines
- Cheese and dairy analogues, using decolourised grades where a red tint would be unacceptable
- Pet food palatants and coatings
- Non food outlets in personal care and defensive spray manufacture, which take the highest pungency grades
China Manufacturers of Capsicol
Top Capsicol manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States capsicum oleoresin is recognised as a spice extractive that is generally recognised as safe for use as a flavouring, and it appears in the listing of essential oils, oleoresins and natural extractives at 21 CFR 182.20. 21 CFR 73.345 separately lists paprika and paprika oleoresin as colour additives exempt from certification, which is the basis for their use where colour rather than heat is the purpose. Extraction solvent residues are controlled under the requirements for solvent extracted food ingredients.
In the European Union paprika extract, covering capsanthin and capsorubin, is authorised as the food colour E 160c with permitted uses set by food category, while capsicum extract used for flavour falls under the flavourings regulation as a flavouring preparation rather than under the colour rules. Extraction solvents are limited to those permitted in the solvents directive, with residue limits set for each. Codex lists paprika oleoresin among its permitted colours through the general standard for food additives, and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives has evaluated paprika extract; the Codex guidelines for the use of flavourings cover capsicum used as a flavouring.
Manufacturing Process
Dried red chilli pods are cleaned to remove stalks, stones and metal, then milled to a coarse flake that opens the pericarp without generating fine dust. The milled material is charged to a battery of percolation extractors and washed in counter current flow with a food grade solvent, typically hexane, acetone or ethyl acetate, or extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide where a solvent free claim is required. The solvent dissolves the capsaicinoids, carotenoids, volatile oil and waxes, and the loaded miscella is drawn off while the spent pod residue is stripped of solvent and sent to animal feed.
The miscella is concentrated by evaporation and then stripped of residual solvent in a falling film or thin film evaporator under vacuum, at a temperature low enough to protect the carotenoids from degradation. Winterisation at low temperature drops out waxes that would otherwise cloud the product, and the filtered oleoresin is analysed for capsaicinoid content and colour value. Blending against those two figures is what produces a saleable standardised grade, using vegetable oil to dilute or a stronger lot to raise the assay. Decolourised grades take an additional adsorption or chromatographic step to strip the carotenoids. Finished oleoresin is packed under nitrogen in lined drums or pails, and powder grades are emulsified onto a carrier and spray dried before packing.
