Changes in provitamin A during paprika processing

Abstract

The effect of the industrial processing of peppers for paprika on carotenoids with provitamin A activity has been investigated. The processing consists of two principal steps: drying and milling. The milling step appears to be the more destructive, leading to a loss of 42.7 to 55.2% in the total carotenoid content and 65.2 to 81.4% in that of provitamin A, depending on the variety of the fruit. However, adding seeds from the peppers during this step dilutes the paprika, reducing the carotenoid losses due to the process itself to around 20%. The drying step is less destructive, but its final effect depends markedly on the degree of ripeness of the fruit and the variety of peppers used. Carotenoids with provitamin A value present in Capsicum annuum are β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and cryptocapsin, which are degraded during the process by 67.3 to 82.2%, 59.2 to 78.9%, and 54.1 to 58.1% respectively, resulting in a loss of provitamin A activity of ca. 65.2 to 81.4%.