Study on extraction and purification process of capsicum red pigment

Abstract

Capsicum red pigment extracted from the dry pepper is a kind of high-quality natural dye and has anticancer and cosmetic property. Before extracting paprika pigment, sodium hydroxide was used to eliminate the piquancy. Capsicum red pigment was extracted by Soxhlet extractor with 95% ethanol and the purity of Capsicum red pigment was identified with FT-IR, then the color value of capsicum red pigment was determined by spectrophotometer with 460nm. The results showed that the optimal parameters were: the concentration of peppery removal agent (sodium hydroxide) was 10%, the holding temperature was 80°C, solid-liquid ratio was 1:20, the extracted time was 120 min, the extraction times were twice and the eluent of silica gel column chromatography separation was consisted of petroleum ether and 90% ethanol with their volume ratio of 2:1. In the process with the optimal parameters, the color value could reach 125 and collect reached 2.88%.