Capsicum Oleoresin

Capsicum oleoresin is the solvent extractive of the dried ripe fruit of Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L. (Solanaceae) — the two species named in the US GRAS listing at 21 CFR 182.20 for essential oils, oleoresins and natural extractives — and it is traded under CAS 8023-77-6. India is one of the principal origins both for the raw chilli and for the oleoresin itself. The article is a viscous dark red oil that carries the fruit's pungent principles, its carotenoid colour and its volatile aroma fraction in a single material, which is why it displaces ground chilli in industrial food systems where dosing accuracy, microbiological control and batch-to-batch heat consistency matter. Pungency comes from the capsaicinoids, a homologue series rather than one compound: capsaicin, 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide, CAS 404-86-4, C18H27NO3, MW 305.41, accounts for roughly 69% of the natural total, dihydrocapsaicin (CAS 19408-84-5, C18H29NO3, MW 307.4) for about 22% and nordihydrocapsaicin (CAS 28789-35-7) for about 7%. That is precisely why release is on total capsaicinoids by HPLC and never on capsaicin alone — a single-analyte assay under-reports the material a buyer is actually paying for. Two scales run side by side in this trade and a purchase order should carry both. Assay is total capsaicinoids by HPLC, with Thovek's standard oleoresin grades at 2%, 5% and 10% and higher concentrates made only against a firm specification and an end-use declaration; heat is quoted in Scoville heat units, ASTA pungency units converting to SHU by the published factor of 15, with pure capsaicin sitting near 16,000,000 SHU. A 10% total-capsaicinoid oleoresin is therefore on the order of 1.6 million SHU and is dosed in grams per tonne of finished product rather than as a percentage, which is a formulation and a safety point at once. Colour value in ASTA units is reported separately from pungency, because a decoloured low-ASTA grade is what capsule and tablet work wants while a colour-bearing grade suits sauces, brines and snack seasoning. Capsicum oleoresin should not be confused with paprika oleoresin (CAS 68917-78-2), which is bought for its capsanthin and capsorubin colour rather than for heat and which the United States regulates as a separate colour additive at 21 CFR 73.345; the two are distinct articles with distinct specifications, and Thovek quotes them separately rather than treating one as a grade of the other. Extraction uses food-grade ethanol, ethyl acetate or hexane with vacuum solvent stripping, or supercritical carbon dioxide where a solvent-free declaration is required, and residual solvents are reported to ICH Q3C. Standardisation down to a nominal grade is done with a named diluent — sunflower oil, MCT or propylene glycol as standard — and never with an undeclared oil: soybean and sesame oil are both declarable allergens in the EU and the United States, and an unnamed diluent on an oleoresin is a well-worn route by which an allergen reaches a finished pack unlabelled. Subject to that declaration the material is plant-derived, vegan and vegetarian, non-GMO, and free of milk, egg, fish, crustacean, mollusc, soy, peanut, tree nut, sesame, mustard, celery, lupin and gluten; buyers should note it is a nightshade (Solanaceae) ingredient, which is not an allergen listing in any jurisdiction but is a labelling point for some brands. Handling is a genuine constraint rather than a formality: concentrated capsicum oleoresin is a severe eye and skin irritant, needs gloves, goggles and local exhaust at the point of weighing, and may attract hazard classification for supply and transport at the higher capsaicinoid strengths, so a safety data sheet ships with every consignment. Lots are released with HPLC capsaicinoid data, SHU and ASTA colour values, refractive index and specific gravity, heavy metals by ICP-MS, aflatoxins and ochratoxin A against the Capsicum limits of Regulation (EU) 2023/915, pesticide residues, microbiology, and allergen, GMO and origin declarations, with Sudan I–IV dye screening on every lot because dried chilli has a documented history of Sudan dye adulteration.