Paper No.

: 10 Technology of Spices and Condiments

Module : 13 Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins

Development Team
Principal Investigator Prof. (Mrs.) Vijaya Khader, Ph.D
Former Dean, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University
Dr. Vijaya Khader
Former Dean, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University
Prof. Dharmesh Chandra Saxena
Paper Coordinator SLIET, Longowal

Miss Syed Insha Rafiq & Prof. Dharmesh Chandra

Content Writer
Saxena SLIET, Longowal

Prof. (Mrs.) Vijaya Khader, Ph.D

Content Reviewer Former Dean, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University
Prof.
Dr. MCDharmendra.C.Saxena
Varadaraj , Chief Scientist CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore
SLIET, Longowal
Dr. Vijaya Khader
Dr. MC Varadaraj

Technology of spices and condiments

Food Technology
Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins
 Description of Module

Subject Name Food Technology

Paper Name 10 Technology of Spices and Condiments

Module Name/Title Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins

Module Id

Pre-requisites

Objectives

Keywords

Technology of spices and condiments

Food Technology
Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins
 13.1 Pepper: Essential Oil and Oleoresin
The quality of pepper is contributed by two components:
• Piperine that contributes the pungency
• Volatile oil that is responsible for the aroma and flavour.
Oleoresin of black pepper, produced by solvent extraction of dried powdered pepper, contains both aroma
and pungency principles. Thus the chemistry of pepper is the chemistry of its essential (volatile) oil and piperine.
13.2 Essential oil of pepper
The essential oil of pepper is a mixture of a large number of volatile chemical compounds. The aroma is
contributed by the totality of the components. The volatile oil derived from steam distillation of pepper is almost
colorless to slightly greenish liquid with the characteristic odor of pepper. The taste of the oil is mild, not at all
pungent. More than 80 components have been reported in pepper essential oil. The important components are
mentioned below.
13.2.1 Monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds
This group includes: camphene, ρ-cymene, limonene, myrcene, cis-ocimene, α-phellandrene, β-
phellandrene, α-pinene, β-pinene, sabinene, α-terpinene, γ-terpinene, terpinolene, α-thujene. Among
them the major components are α-pinene, β-pinene, sabinene and limonene. About 43 Oxygenated
monoterpenoid compounds present in pepper essential oil are known including: borneol, camphor,
carvacrol, cis-carveol, trans-carveol,carvone, carventanacetone, 1,8-cincole, cryptone, ρ-cymene-8-ol,
ρ-cymene-8-methyl ether, dihydrocarveol, dihydrocarvone, linalool, cis-menthadien-2-ol, 3,8,(9)-ρ-
menthadien-1-ol, 1(7)-ρ-menthadien-6-ol, 1(7)-ρ-menthadien-4-ol,1,8(9)-ρ-menthadien-5-ol, 1,8(9)-ρ-
menthadien-4-ol, cis-ρ-2-menthen-1-ol,myrtenal, myrtenol, methyl carvacrol, transpinocarveol,
pinocamphene, cissabinenehydrate, trans-sabinene hydrate, 1-terpinen-4-ol, 1 terpinen-5-ol, α-
terpeneol,1,1,1,4-trimethylcyclo-hepta-2, 4-dien-6-ol, phellandral, piperitone, citronellal, nerol
geraniol, isopinocamphone, methyl citronillate, methyl geranate, α-terpenyl acetate, terpenolene
epoxide and trans-limonene epoxide.

Technology of spices and condiments

Food Technology
Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins
 13.2.2 Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds.
About 25 sesquiterpenehydrocarbons are present in pepper oil, the most important one being: β-
caryophyllene, α-cis-bergamontene, α-trans-bergamontene, β-bisabolene, δ-cadinene, γ-cadinene, calamenene, α-
copaene, α-cubebene, β-cubebene, ar-curcumene, β-elemene, δ-elemene, β-farnasene, δ-guaiene, α-humulene, γ-
humulene, isocaryophyllene, γ-muurolene, α-santalene, α-selinene,β -selinene, ledene, sesquisabenene and
zingiberene.
13.2.3 Miscellaneous compounds
In addition to the above groups of compounds many others were also identified in black pepper oil. They
are: eugenol, methyl eugenol, benzaldehyde, trans-anethole, myristicin, safrole, piperonal, m-
methylacetophenone, ρ-methylacetophenone, n-butyrophenone, methylheptanone, pinol, methyl heptanote,
methyloctanoate, 2-undecanone, n-nonane, n-tridecane, and aromatic acids such as benzoic acid, phenyl acetic
acid, cinnamic acid, piperonic acid, butyric acid, 3-methyl butyric acid, haxanoic acid and 2-methyl pentanoic
acid.
13.3 Pepper Oleoresin
Oleoresin of black pepper is obtained using organic solvent resulting in the product possessing odor, flavor
and pungent principles of the spice. As the name implies, pepper oleoresin consists of a blend of the essential oil,
resinous matter of the spice and related compounds like the pungent alkaloid piperine. Pepper oleoresin has a
relatively full flavor profile characteristic of pepper as compared to pepper oil. The quantity and quality of the
components principally depends upon the raw material used for extraction. The pepper may be comminuted in
flakes or ground into coarse powder and is extracted with a suitably purified solvent like acetone, ethanol or
dichloroethane. The extraction may be conducted by:
 Circulation of hot or cold solvent through a bed of ground spice
 Soxhlet extraction
 Countercurrent process employing several extractions.
In this last process, pepper remains in the small extractors, but the solvent is transferred from one extractor
to the next, during which time the concentration of the material extracted progressively increases, until the solvent
meets fresh pepper, after which it is conveyed into a steel vessel where most of the solvent is removed. The
concentrated extract is than subjected to carefully controlled vacuum distillation in which the solvent in the extract
is reduced to trace levels.

Technology of spices and condiments

Food Technology
Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins
 Pepper oleoresin is a dark green, viscous, heavy liquid with a strong aroma. The components and the
quality of the extract depend on the raw material used, method and condition of the processing and handling of
the products. The oleoresin produced is influenced by the solubility of the solvent used. Hexane gives very low
yield, because of low solubility of piperine in hexane. Ethanol is the best one because it gives the highest yield at
the solvent recovery process due to its lower cost and easier availability.

Fig: Structure of Piperine

Technology of spices and condiments

Food Technology
Pepper Products: Essential Oil And Oleoresins