Pistachio Paste
Pistachio Paste is a confectionery ingredient made by grinding shelled pistachio kernels into a fluid mass, either as pure kernel or compounded with sugar, oil and colour, and used for flavouring and colouring pastry, gelato and chocolate.
Pistachio kernels carry roughly 45 to 55 per cent oil, dominated by oleic acid, together with 20 per cent protein and the chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments that give the characteristic green colour. That colour is the commercial point of the ingredient as much as the flavour, and it is fragile: chlorophyll degrades under heat, light and acid, turning the paste from green towards khaki and brown. Processing is therefore built around protecting the pigment, and premium grades are made from unroasted or lightly roasted blanched kernels rather than dark roasted ones.
The traded form is a dense green paste, firm at ambient temperature and pumpable when warmed to about 40 degrees Celsius, with oil separation on standing in unstabilised grades. Moisture is around one per cent, so the paste is microbiologically stable through low water activity, contributes no water to a dough, and does not boil out in the oven. Pure grades are unsweetened; compounded grades carry sugar and added oil and behave as a ready to use flavouring base.
We source bulk Pistachio Paste from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Tianjin. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Bakery ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Homogeneous paste, free from shell fragments and foreign matter |
| Colour | Green to yellowish green, matching approved standard |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic pistachio, no rancid, mouldy or bitter note |
| Pistachio content | 100% for pure grade, declared percentage for compound grade |
| Total fat | 45.0 to 56.0% |
| Protein | Not less than 18.0% for pure grade |
| Moisture | Not more than 2.0% |
| Water activity | Not more than 0.50 |
| Particle size, D90 | Not more than 30 micrometres |
| Peroxide value | Not more than 2.0 meq O2/kg fat |
| Free fatty acids as oleic | Not more than 1.0% |
| Aflatoxin B1 | Not more than 8 microgram/kg for material for further processing |
| Lead | Not more than 0.1 mg/kg |
| Total plate count | Not more than 5000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and mould | Not more than 100 cfu/g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The first division is between pure pistachio paste, which is one hundred per cent kernel, and compound pistachio paste, in which pistachio is combined with almond or cashew paste, sugar, vegetable oil, flavouring and green colour. Compound grades are a large part of the traded volume because pure pistachio is expensive and its natural colour is muted; they must be bought on declared pistachio content rather than on appearance, since added colour makes a low pistachio paste look stronger than it is.
Within pure grades, buyers specify whether the kernels were blanched, which removes the purple skin and gives a brighter green, and the roast level, from raw through light roast. Origin is specified because kernel colour and flavour differ between growing regions. Fineness runs from a refined confectionery grade below 30 micrometres to a coarser bakery grade, and stabilised versions carrying a hard fat fraction are made where oil separation must be avoided.
Applications
- Flavour and colour base for pistachio gelato and ice cream, dispersed into the mix before freezing
- Filling and layer in pistachio pastries, cakes and entremets, and in Middle Eastern sweets such as baklava
- Centre for filled chocolates, pralines and pistachio bars
- Component of macaron shells and fillings, contributing colour without added water
- Frangipane and pastry cream flavouring where a nut cream is built on the paste
- Sandwiching cream for wafers and biscuits, blended into the fat phase
- Flavour base for pistachio milk drinks and latte style beverages after dilution
- Ripple and variegate in frozen desserts, stable at low temperature because of the low moisture
- Colouring and flavouring for nougat, halva and marzipan style confections
Brands Using Pistachio Paste
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Pistachio Paste on the ingredient label.
- Petit PotPot de Creme Pistachio ↗A chilled French style pudding whose ingredient list names pistachio paste after the milk, cream, sugar and egg yolks.Label verified 2026-08-31
- VenchiCremino Pistachio ↗A layered chocolate of alternating milk and white chocolate layers with pistachio paste.Label verified 2026-08-31
- VenchiSalted Pistachio Pearl ↗A bagged chocolate described as a white chocolate shell made with pistachio paste around a salted whole pistachio.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Pistachio Paste
Top Pistachio Paste 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
Pistachio paste is a food rather than a food additive and has no E number of its own. Where colours are added to compound grades, the additive rules apply to those colours: in the European Union Regulation 1333/2008 authorises the green shades used and assigns them E numbers, several of which carry a mandatory statement about effects on activity and attention in children, and in the United States 21 CFR Part 74 requires certified colour additives to appear on the label by name. A compound paste containing added colour cannot be presented as pure pistachio in either market.
Pistachio is a declarable tree nut allergen in the United States, the European Union, China and Japan, and compound pastes must also declare any almond, cashew or other nut used. Aflatoxin control is the dominant contaminant issue for this commodity, since pistachio is among the tree nuts most often subject to import controls; the European Union sets maximum levels for aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxins in pistachios and applies increased checks at import, while the United States applies an action level for total aflatoxins in food. Codex has a standard for pistachio nuts, and the Codex general standard for contaminants applies in international trade.
Manufacturing Process
Shelled kernels are cleaned and sorted, first mechanically and then optically, to remove shell fragments, discoloured kernels and foreign matter. Blanching in hot water or steam loosens the purple seed coat, which is removed by rubbing rollers and aspiration to expose the green cotyledon. The blanched kernels are dried gently at low temperature, because high heat at this point destroys the chlorophyll that defines the product, and premium green grades are dried rather than roasted for that reason.
Grinding proceeds in stages, with a pre grinder releasing the oil to form a coarse mass and a colloid or bead mill reducing it to the target fineness. Mills are jacketed and the paste is cooled between passes, both to protect colour and to limit oxidation of the oleic rich oil. In compound grades, sugar, additional vegetable oil, other nut pastes, flavouring and colour are blended in before the final refining pass. The paste is deaerated under vacuum, filled warm into pails or cans under nitrogen, and cooled and stored cold and dark, since colour loss during storage is the most common quality complaint on this ingredient.
