Research on the Extraction of the Red Pigment of Hot-pepper and Its Character

[Objective] The effect of the concentration of organic solvent,extraction temperature and time,ratio of raw material to liquid and other factors on extraction efficiency of the red pigment of hot-pepper was experimented and the stability of the extract to thermal and light was preliminarily studied.[Method] The red pigment of hot-pepper was extracted with organic solvent and the best technology of its extraction was optimized through the orthogonal test.The component of red pigment was analyzed with the thin-layer chromatography and its stability was studied.[Results] The best processing condition was:the concentration of ethanol,95%;the ratio of raw material to liquid,1.0∶12.5;the extraction temperature,60 ℃ and the extraction time,3 hours;under which condition,the stability of the extract to heat in a certain period of time was good,but poor lightfastness.[Conclusion] The red pigment of hot-pepper could be used as natural food additives.