An Introduction to Capsaicin Pepper
Introduction of Capsaicin Pepper
The spicy ingredients contained in pepper fruit are capsaicin pepperoids, including: capsaicin pepper, dihydrocapsaicin pepper, nordihydrocapsaicin pepper, homocapsaicin pepper, homodihydrocapsaicin pepper I, homodihydrocapsaicin pepper II, Nonoyl vanillylamide, Decoyl vanillylamide, Capryl vanillylamide. Capsanthin includes Cryptoxanthin, Capsanthin, Capsorubin, Carotene; also contains vitamin C, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, protein, minerals, etc. . The seeds contain Solanine, Solanidine, and Solamargine, Solasodine, Solasonine and other alkaloids.
Capsaicin pepper and its ointment preparations have been included in the 24th edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia and are widely used in the treatment of: arthritis, muscle pain, back pain, sports sprains, and postherpetic neuralgia. DRUG EVALUASION (“Clinical Drug Encyclopedia”) edited by the American Medical Association recommends the drug as the first choice for clinicians to treat postherpetic neuralgia and diabetic neuralgia.
What is the secret of pepper burning fat? The key is – capsaicin pepper, just eat a spoon or two, its stimulating taste will immediately send a “sufficient” signal to the cranial nerves, resulting in a great loss of appetite. At the same time, another major effect of capsaicin pepper is to stimulate the body’s thermogenic system and speed up metabolism. Have you ever heard big stars talk about how they gobble up? The secret is the rapid heat generation system, which can improve the efficiency of the body, just like a fast-moving machine can consume a lot of hydrocarbon fuel.
After eating a spicy meal, you can consume more than 25% of the calories. And when the spicy is burning in the abdomen, drinking a cup of black tea rich in caffeine, the effect is more obvious. Chili peppers also promote the production of two enzymes in the body, which in the process of burning fat can “convince” fat cells to unload while preventing excess accumulation of fat. This weight loss method does not require any dietary rules, as capsaicin pepper stimulates the production of endorphins and serotonin, while also putting you in a good mood.
Table of Contents
Application of Capsaicin Pepper
As a food additive. Chili peppers are used as food seasonings, and some shallow processing of chili peppers is required to make chili sauce and so on. However, when these products are eaten, the capsaicin pepper has to undergo a leaching process, and the bioavailability of capsaicin pepper is not high. At the same time, the alkali continues to be released in the intestine, irritating the intestinal wall, which can cause abdominal discomfort, and even cause anal burning pain and induce hemorrhoids. Therefore, the extraction and separation of capsaicin pepper from capsicum, as an additive in food processing, is beneficial to the control of spiciness and the full absorption and utilization of capsaicin pepper.
Some attached organisms in the ocean, such as barnacles, seaweed, shellfish, etc., are largely attached to the bottom of ships, buoys, docks, bridge piers, seawater pipelines and aquaculture cages and nets. The growth rate is extremely fast, which can slow down the speed of ships, increase fuel, accelerate metal corrosion, block pipes and cage meshes, and unbalance underwater facilities, causing great harm to human development of the ocean. Capsaicin pepper, as a repellant, has Strong repelling effect, and does not kill marine life, has obvious ecological benefits.
PVC and polyethylene are more and more widely used as insulation and sheathing materials in the wire and cable industry. In addition to being damaged by oxygen, heat, light, force and chemical erosion, It will also be damaged by termites, mice or hares, resulting in power outages, communication interruptions, and even short circuits and fires. The strong spicy taste of capsaicin pepper can make the oral mucosa and taste nerves of rodents strongly stimulated and rejected. It can be chewed and kill termites at the same time, and it has broad application prospects in wire and cable.
China is one of the earliest countries to use chili peppers as medicines. Chili peppers are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat stomach cold and rheumatism. Modern research shows that capsaicin pepper has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anesthesia and detoxification effects. Its analgesic effect is equivalent to that of morphine, but it is more durable than morphine. It is effective in postherpetic neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia and diabetic neuralgia. , rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriasis, alopecia, etc. have significant curative effect. In addition, capsaicin pepper can also inhibit the occurrence of malignant tumors, and also has special effects on the treatment of skin diseases and weight loss.
Capsaicin Pepper Receptors and their Effects
Capsaicin pepper binds to VR1 and activates a membrane ion channel directly coupled to the receptor, which is a relatively nonspecific cation channel. After the channel is opened, calcium ions (also sodium ions) enter the cell, potassium ions leave the cell, and some chloride ions also enter the cell to balance the charge accordingly. Unlike voltage-gated channels, VR1-coupled channels cannot be blocked by sodium, potassium, or calcium channel blockade. But it can be blocked by ruthenium red. The capsaicin pepper congener gum resin, isolated from the milk of the Euphorbia gum plant, also activates VR1 and has a more potent effect. Capsaicin pepper is a competitive antagonist of VR1, but it is not analgesic or analgesic by itself, It shows that it has no corresponding ligand that binds to the pain site.
Primary sensory neurons of VR1-negative mice cultured in vitro were severely impaired in response to various noxious stimuli. Therefore, it has been suggested that VR1 plays a key role in the transmission of polymorphic noxious stimuli, and it is even believed that VR1 is essential for pain perception.
In vitro cell culture experiments, activation of VR1 on the membrane of rat dorsal root ganglion cells can observe the influx of monolithic calcium ions. This process involves an extended period of a rapid increase in intracellular calcium (several minutes) followed by a prolonged restoration of calcium concentration (tens of minutes). Compared to the activation of voltage-gated calcium channels in the same cell by potassium depolarization, VR1 activation elicits a similar magnitude and rate of increase in intracellular calcium concentrations, but a much slower return of calcium to resting levels. many. Studies with mitochondrial decoupling agents found that mitochondria act as a buffer for intracellular calcium ions in this process. When a large amount of extracellular calcium ions influx, mitochondria absorb sodium and calcium ions. When calcium ions in the cytoplasm are restored, mitochondria release calcium ions, which prolongs the recovery time. During this prolonged recovery, the nerve cells were unresponsive to both extracellular potassium and capsaicin pepper. This may be related to the desensitization effect of capsaicin pepper and the memory of pain. The artificially cloned and expressed VR1 can be activated by vanillin compounds, hydrogen ions, heat greater than 43 °C, and acid (pH≤5.9). Therefore, some people think that VR1 is a molecular complex that causes pain caused by chemical and physical stimuli. There are also experimental results that do not support this hypothesis. Nagy et al. compared the cell membrane responses of rat primary sensory cells to capsaicin pepper and noxious thermal stimuli using electrophysiological and ion current measurement methods, and confirmed that there are many similarities in the properties of ion channels activated by capsaicin pepper or thermal stimuli. , but there is also an important difference, that is, the permeability of calcium ions in heat-activated channels is lower than that of capsaicin pepper-activated channels. Channels that respond to heat stimuli or capsaicin pepper are monosensitive, and only a few ion channels have dual sensitivity to heat and capsaicin pepper. At the whole cell level, each cell can respond to heat or capsaicin pepper. Therefore, it is inferred that capsaicin pepper is substantially different from the molecules that induce cellular responses to thermal stimulation, and may be related to multiple isoforms of VR1.
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Extraction of Capsaicin Pepper
Capsanthin, alias capsaicin pepper, molecular formula C40H5603, the main components are capsanthin and capsanthin, is a dark red viscous oily liquid with special odor, no spicy taste, has the aroma of pepper, soluble in most non-volatile Oil, insoluble in water and glycerin, partially soluble in ethanol, good heat resistance and acid and alkali resistance, stable to visible light, but easy to fade under ultraviolet light. Pure capsanthin is deep carmine red needle-like crystals, which are easily soluble in polar organic solvents and appear blue when reacted with concentrated inorganic acids. Capsanthin used in food additives is dark red ointment with spicy taste and no bad smell. Capsanthin has properties such as insoluble in vegetable oil and ethanol, high solubility in alkaline solution, acid and alkali resistance, oxidation resistance, etc. These properties can be used to separate capsanthin from other components during separation and extraction, and obtain higher purity. of the extract. The common extraction methods of capsanthin are roughly divided into three types: oil-soluble method, solvent method and supercritical fluid extraction method.
Oil-soluble method
Solvent method
Supercritical CO2 flow extraction method
Oil-soluble method
The oil-soluble method refers to the use of liquid edible oil such as cottonseed oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, etc. to impregnate the pepper peel or dried chili powder at room temperature, so that the capsanthin is dissolved in the edible oil. The capsanthin pigment is raised in the oil. However, because the separation of oil and pigment is difficult, the extraction rate of capsanthin is low, and it is difficult to obtain products with high color value.
Solvent method
The solvent method refers to that after the dried chili peppers that have removed the defective impurities are ground into powder, they are leached with organic solvents such as acetone, ethanol, ether, chloroform, trichloroethane, n-hexane, etc. at a certain temperature. Concentrated to obtain crude capsicum oleoresin, which was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain crude product. However, this crude product contains a lot of impurities and also has the peculiar spicy taste of chili peppers. Therefore, various improvement methods are required to eliminate impurities and peculiar smell. The main methods are:
- steam distillation of the crude capsicum oleoresin to remove the peculiar smell of capsicum, then treatment with alkaline water, extraction with an organic solvent, and distillation to obtain capsanthin; It is extracted with solvent, concentrated, added with the same edible oil as the oil-dissolving method, and then steam distilled to remove peculiar smell.
- Add fatty alcohol and alkaline substances such as methanol-sodium methoxide, ethanol-sodium ethoxide, n-propanol-sodium n-propoxide, isopropanol-sodium isopropoxide, butanol-sodium butoxide, etc. The catalysis of these alkaline substances promotes the transesterification of the fatty components in the capsicum oleoresin, and then distills the excess alcohol, then adds water or salt water to the remaining capsicum residue, adjusts it to neutrality with acid, and separates the layers. A non-polar or low-polar solvent, such as n-hexane and petroleum ether, is added to the oil layer, and a solid is precipitated, and the capsanthin is obtained by filtration. The capsanthin prepared by this method is of high quality and has no peculiar smell.
- First, treat capsicum oleoresin with 15%-40% NaOH (or KOH) solution to make the fat component in capsanthin undergo saponification reaction, then extract and concentrate with organic solvent such as acetone, and then steam distillation or decompression. The odorless capsanthin can be obtained by treating with inert gas. The capsanthin prepared by this method has high yield, good quality, and is safe and easy to produce.
This method is to treat capsicum oleoresin with 20% alkaline metal compound, then add an appropriate amount of alkaline earth metal compound to form an aqueous solution system, and the aqueous solution system is treated with dilute acid at room temperature, filtered after forming a salt, and separated. The solid is extracted, washed with water, extracted with an organic solvent, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain capsanthin. The obtained product has a fine texture and no peculiar smell.
Supercritical CO2 flow extraction method
Supercritical fluid extraction is an emerging extraction and separation technology in the food industry. Compared with traditional chemical solvent extraction, its advantages are that it has no chemical solvent consumption and residue, no pollution, and avoids thermal degradation of extracts at high temperatures. Protect the activity of physiologically active substances and maintain the natural flavor of the extract. The technology uses supercritical CO2 as an extractant to extract, separate and purify materials from liquid or solid materials. The research results at home and abroad show that it is successful and feasible to use supercritical CO2 fluid extraction to remove the residual solvent in capsaicin pepper and prepare high-concentration capsanthin.
The optimal process conditions for supercritical CO2 fluid to purify capsanthin to make the product comply with FAO/WHO standards are extraction pressure 18MPa, extraction temperature 25℃, extraction agent flow rate 2.0L/min, and extraction time 3 hours. Studies by Han Yuqian6 and others have shown that when the extraction pressure is controlled at 20MPa, the color value of capsanthin is almost not lost, and the residual organic solvent can be reduced by about 2×10-6. The yellow-based pigments could be separated, but the desired complete separation was not achieved. Hu Yunxiang and others believed that the yellow component can be extracted under the pressure of less than 10.0MPa, and the red pigment can be retained. At the same time, when the pressure is greater than 12.0MPa At 0MPa, the red component of capsicum oleoresin can be basically completely extracted. This method is an advanced extraction method, but it needs to be further improved.
Chili peppers mainly contain three biochemical substances: capsaicin pepper, capsanthin and chili oil. Its main use is for the production of condiments, as well as hot pot bases, cold dishes, leisure food, instant food, fast food, microwave food, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned deep processing methods, chili can also be processed into various ready-to-eat foods, such as pickled green chili, bean paste, spiced chili, chili sesame paste, chili paste, etc. For the separation and extraction of red peppers, in addition to products such as capsanthin and capsaicin pepper, the extracted residues are tested by the Food Quality Supervision and Inspection Center of the Ministry of Agriculture for their main components: per 100 grams of dried pepper residues contain heat 2309.4kJ, protein 8.28g, carbohydrate 5.58g, calcium 1.48g, phosphorus 58mg. Its protein and mineral content are usually much higher than those of fruits and vegetables, and its protein content is similar to that of grains, which shows the edible and usability of pepper residues. After processing, the chili residue can be made into chili powder, chili biscuit, chili fruit tan peel, etc. and various snack foods. Therefore, the market potential for deep processing of peppers is huge.
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Processing Technology of Capsaicin Pepper
Sour Chili
Canned Chili Sauce
Chili Chips
Sour Chili
Sour pickles are one of the traditional Chinese fermented vegetable products. They have the characteristics of fresh and sour taste, crisp texture and unique flavor. They are very popular among urban and rural people. Although sour chili is a favorite pickle variety, it is still rare in the Chinese market. A production method is now proposed for reference.
Technical process:
Fresh peppers → washing → draining → cutting → hardening treatment → anaerobic fermentation → ingredients → sub-packaging (vacuum packaging) → finished product
Operation points:
① Raw materials. The raw material is green peppers with large, thick flesh and compact organization. The raw materials should be fresh and should be used on the same day of harvesting to avoid backlog and excessive stack pressure.
② Cleaning. Wash, drain, pick and remove defective products. Rinse the green peppers with water and keep turning them to remove any remaining pesticides, fertilizers, soil and other impurities on the surface.
③ Cut. Divide as needed.
④ Hardening treatment. After the raw materials are processed, put them in 0.05% CaCl2 or K2SO4 brine with a concentration of 8%, and soak them for 16 days at 25°C.
⑤ Anaerobic fermentation. The hardened peppers are inoculated with old brine and fermented for about 16 days.
⑥ Ingredients. The main ingredients are 2% white sugar, 0.5% citric acid, 0.01% sodium saccharin, 0.03% sodium benzoate and 0.02% sodium dehydroacetate. They are dissolved in boiling water and filtered through a 150-mesh filter cloth and then added with pepper. middle.
⑦ Vacuum packing. Vacuum packed in an opaque foil bag.
Canned Chili Sauce
Technical process:
Raw material → soaking → cleaning → crushing → mixing → canning → exhausting → sealing → sterilization → cooling → heat preservation → inspection → finished product
Process points:
① Use fresh red peppers with good maturity, no moth-eaten, disease spots and rotten red peppers, soak them in 5% salt water for 20 minutes to expel insects, then wash them with clean water for 3-5 times, wash away the sediment and impurities, and cut off the stems. Bundle.
② Add 1.5kg of fresh ginger for every 100kg of fresh chili, wash the old ginger, rub off the ginger skin, cut into thin slices, crush and mix well with the fresh chili.
③ Add 8% salt and 0.5% five-spice powder to the crushed chili sauce, mix well, bottle, and weigh.
④ Heat and exhaust in the exhaust box or cage. When the temperature of the canned material reaches 65 ℃, seal it immediately while it is still hot.
⑤ Sterilize glass bottles and cans with boiling water for 10-18 minutes, and then cool them to below 38°C in a water bath.
⑥ After cooling, wipe off the water, send it to a 25°C incubator for 5 days and nights, check if there is no problem, and then package the finished product.
Chili Chips
Technical process:
Raw material → gluten, seeds → slices → dipping → draining → vacuum frying → degreasing → cooling → packaging
Operation points:
① Raw materials. Choose green peppers and red peppers that are mature, free of rot and insect pests, large and fresh as raw materials, and wash off sediment and debris with clean water for later use.
② Remove tendons and seeds. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, dig out the inner tendons and seeds, rinse with water, and drain.
③ Slice. Cut the gluten-free and seeded peppers into slices about 4 cm long and 2 cm wide. Too long and too wide tend to deform and break easily during processing.
④ Impregnation. Put the cut peppers into the sugar solution for dipping. The sugar solution is made by mixing 15% white sugar, 2.5% table salt and a small amount of monosodium glutamate in water. The sugar solution temperature is 60°C and the dipping time is 1- 2 hours.
⑤ Drain. Rinse the sugar solution attached to the surface of the pepper flakes with clean water and drain.
⑥ Vacuum frying. Put the drained chili flakes into a vacuum fryer for vacuum frying. The vacuum degree should not be lower than 0.08 MPa (Pa), and the temperature should be controlled at 80-85 ℃. The frying time is related to the variety and texture of the chili flakes. , oil temperature, vacuum degree. The specific method is to see through the observation hole of the vacuum fryer until almost all the foam on the pepper flakes disappears.
⑦ Deoiling. Some vacuum frying machines have the dual functions of frying and deoiling. Those without deoiling function need to remove the excess oil in the chili flakes by a centrifuge.
⑧ Cooling. Quickly cool the deoiled pepper flakes to 40-50°C, and send them to the packaging room for packaging as soon as possible.
⑨ Packaging. Sorting and trimming according to the size, plumpness and color of the pieces, after passing the inspection, they are packed with vacuum inflatable according to a certain weight in the dry packing room, which is the finished product.
