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Microwave – Assisted Extraction of Capsaicinoids from Capsicum Species
Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org
Citation: Paper number 026003, 2002 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.9709) @2002Authors: Opal J. Williams, G.S.Vijaya Raghavan, Valérie Orsat, Jianming Dai
Keywords: Capsaicin, red hot peppers, extraction, microwave, solvent
The applicability of microwave irradiation to assist the extraction of capsaicinoids from capsicum fruit was
investigated. The procedure involved irradiation of 2g samples in a closed vessel followed by gas
chromatography of capsaicinoid derivatives. The optimum conditions for extraction were determined to be
acetone at 30% power for 7 minutes irrespective of ground or whole tissue.
The yield of the compounds extracted was significantly greater (P<0.05) using microwave assisted extraction
(MAE) compared to traditional reflux and shaken flask methods. A single extraction step was efficient in
recovering approximately 95% of the total capsaicinoid fraction in 15 minutes compared with 2 hours for the
reflux and 24 hours for the shaken flask methods. Due to the considerable savings in time and energy as well
as reliability, this technique is suitable for fast extraction of capsaicinoids from large samples.