Pigment content and fatty acid composition of paprika oleoresins obtained by conventional and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction

An experiment was conducted to examine the influence of conventional and supercritical extraction of ground paprika (“Aleva N.K.” variety) on the quality of paprika oleoresin. Paprika was extracted using hexane as an organic solvent and supercritical carbon dioxide at 20, 30 and 40 MPa. The extraction yields were 12.8, 10.6, 10.6 and 10.3%, respectively. It was confirmed that the organic solvent was less selective than the supercritical carbon dioxide. The analyses of fatty acid composition showed that oleoresin consisted mostly of linoleic acid. The highest pigment content was found in the conventional oleoresin, 31,476 mg/kg. Among supercritical oleoresins, the richest in pigments was the one obtained at 40 MPa (14,134 mg/kg), 44.9% in comparison with the conventional.