Sichuan Pepper
Sichuan pepper is the dried pericarp of the fruit of Zanthoxylum species in the rue family, principally Zanthoxylum bungeanum for the red type and Zanthoxylum schinifolium for the green type. Despite the name it is unrelated to black pepper and to chilli, and it is not pungent in the capsaicin sense. Its defining property is a tingling, buzzing numbness on the lips and tongue known in Chinese as ma.
That sensation comes from a group of unsaturated fatty acid amides, the sanshools, of which hydroxy alpha sanshool is the most abundant. Rather than acting on the heat receptors that capsaicin and piperine target, the sanshools activate touch sensitive nerve fibres, producing a vibrating tingle at a frequency of around fifty hertz. The aroma is separate and comes from the essential oil in the pericarp, one to four percent of the dried weight, dominated by linalool, limonene, sabinene and geranyl acetate, which give the citrus and pine character.
The spice is traded as whole dried pericarp, as coarse or fine ground powder, and as extracted oil and oleoresin. The seeds are dark, hard and largely flavourless, and their removal is a quality criterion. Sanshools degrade on exposure to air, light and heat, so ground material loses its numbing effect much faster than whole pericarp and is normally packed under an oxygen barrier.
We source bulk Sichuan Pepper from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dried split pericarp, bright red or green, or free flowing ground powder |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic citrus and woody aroma, marked numbing tingle, no musty note |
| Identification | Macroscopic and organoleptic examination conform to reference |
| Volatile Oil | Not less than 1.5 ml/100 g |
| Moisture | Not more than 11.0% |
| Total Ash | Not more than 8.0% |
| Acid Insoluble Ash | Not more than 1.5% |
| Seed and Stalk Content | Not more than 6.0% for whole pericarp grades |
| Lead | Not more than 3.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Aflatoxins | Not more than 10 microgram/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 100,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 1,000 cfu/g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The first split is botanical. Red Sichuan pepper from Zanthoxylum bungeanum is stronger in numbing effect and carries a warm woody citrus aroma, while green Sichuan pepper from Zanthoxylum schinifolium is brighter and more lime like with a sharper tingle, and the two are priced and specified separately. Within the red type, material is further separated by growing region, with the Hancheng and Sichuan basin origins traded as distinct qualities.
Commercial grading rests on the proportion of open pericarp to seed and stalk, on colour, and on volatile oil content. A top grade is nearly free of seed and black stalk, holds a bright red or green colour and carries a higher essential oil figure, while lower grades contain more seed and broken material. Ground grades are specified by mesh, from a coarse cracked spice for visible use to an eighty mesh powder for seasoning blends. Extracted forms cover steam distilled essential oil, solvent extracted oleoresin standardised on sanshool content, and infused seasoning oils.
Applications
- Mala hotpot and dry pot bases, where the numbing effect is the defining sensation of the dish
- Sichuan style chilli oil and seasoning oils, extracted into the fat phase during frying
- Five spice and thirteen spice blends, contributing the citrus and tingling element
- Braised and marinated cold meats such as lu wei, added whole to the cooking liquor
- Cured and dried sausage and preserved meat, both for flavour and for its antioxidant effect on fat
- Instant noodle seasoning sachets in mala varieties, added as powder or as an oil extract
- Snack seasonings on crisps, nuts and extruded snacks in numbing spicy flavours
- Marinades and rubs for grilled skewers and barbecue
- Pickles and preserved vegetables, where whole pericarp is added to the brine
Brands Using Sichuan Pepper
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Sichuan Pepper on the ingredient label.
- Fly By JingOriginal Sichuan Chili Crisp ↗Sichuan pepper appears in the ingredient list, and the page identifies it as Tribute pepper hand-harvested in the Qingxi mountains.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Fly By JingXtra Crunchy Sichuan Chili Crisp ↗The crunchier version lists Sichuan pepper alongside fava beans, yellow split peas, pumpkin seeds and dried chili pepper.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 Sichuan Pepper
Top Sichuan Pepper 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
Sichuan pepper is a spice and a food in its own right, so it is not a food additive and has no E number. In the United States it is treated as a spice under 21 CFR 182.10, and the corresponding provisions for spice oils and oleoresins cover the essential oil and oleoresin, with flavouring use additionally supported through the FEMA GRAS programme. Imports into the United States were subject to a longstanding restriction on the grounds of citrus canker risk rather than food safety, which was resolved by requiring a heat treatment of the imported pericarp.
In the European Union it is a food and a source of natural flavouring, regulated under general food law and the flavourings framework rather than under the additives framework. The controlling limits in practice are the contaminant and residue limits that apply to dried spices, covering aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, pesticide residues, lead and cadmium, and the rules on irradiation and on ethylene oxide treatment, the latter prohibited on spices in the European Union. Codex addresses the material through its standards and code of practice for spices and dried aromatic herbs and its general standard for contaminants.
Manufacturing Process
Fruit is harvested when the pericarp splits and shows full colour, and is dried immediately, traditionally in the sun and increasingly in hot air or heat pump dryers at controlled temperature, since slow drying at high humidity darkens the pericarp and volatile loss at high temperature strips the aroma. The dried fruit is then threshed to break the pericarp free of the seed, and the two are separated by air classification and gravity table, with the heavier seed falling out of the light pericarp fraction. Stalk, leaf and stone are removed by sieving, destoning and colour sorting.
Cleaned pericarp is either packed whole or reduced. Grinding is done in a hammer or pin mill, frequently under chilled or cryogenic conditions with liquid nitrogen, because ordinary milling generates enough heat to volatilise the aroma fraction and to accelerate sanshool degradation. Extracted forms are made by steam distilling the pericarp to recover the essential oil, or by solvent extraction with ethanol or a hydrocarbon followed by solvent recovery under vacuum to give an oleoresin carrying both the aroma and the sanshool fraction. Finished material is passed through a metal detector, sieved and packed under an oxygen barrier.
