[CH] Indian Peppers - a little late
George Nelson (70431.3065@compuserve.com)
Sun, 24 Sep 2000 16:46:21 -0400
Well, to resurrect an old topic, the discussion about the Indian pepper
surpassing Red Savinas in heat recalls discussion at the beginning of 1999
(Digest, Vol 5, # 197 1/21/99) on the list about the source of pepper
extract. I made a posting (Digest, Vol 5, # 200 1/24/99) about a
conversation with someone in the spice extraction industry. This person
indicated the peppers used for his particular firm's oleoresin capsicum
extraction came from India with SHU ratings between 1 and 1.5 million (6 to
9% w/w capsaicinoids). The 877,000 SHU quoted in the AP and Reuter's
articles sounds to be close to that for the ones used for extraction, but
not really high enough to be as economical (~ 5% w/w).
There certainly are peppers with SHU greater than Red Savina and they have
been around for awhile. Their use as an "industrial" rather than a
"culinary" crop keeps them from being well-known. Their cultivation in
India in relatively small amounts also keeps them from being more commonly
known in areas with a lot of trendy fads or Internet traffic. (Chiles are,
of course, a way of life, not a trendy fad, unless you are a press agency
reporter on a slow day).
35 tons of peppers at 1 million SHU will yield 4200 pounds of capsaicin. I
wonder what percentage of the world demand for pure capsaicin that is.
George Nelson