Microwave and Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Capsaicinoids From Chili Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in Flavored Olive Oil

The extraction of flavoring compounds from different plants and aromatic herbs has been using since ancient times in vegetable oils to enhance their aroma and taste, whereas the technology of production has changed over time. Our work aimed to evaluate alternative technologies for the production of aromatized olive oil such as ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction in comparison to traditional infusion or maceration of dried red hot chili pepper (10% w/v for 7 days). For the ultrasonic treatment, samples of olive oil were prepared by adding 10% and 20% dried chili pepper and subjected to ultrasound-extraction for 10 or 20 minutes. For microwave extraction, samples were added with 20% chili powder and treated for 10, 30 or 60 seconds. Capsaicinoids were quantified by HPLC-DAD directly in the flavored olive oil and antioxidant activity was evaluated by ABTS+ method. Capsaicinoids analysis in aromatized olive oil treated 20 minutes by ultrasound resulted about 130 ppm (capsaicin and hydroxycapsaicin), when 10% chili powder was used, while it was 250 ppm when 20% chili was used. The content of capsaicinoids extracted by traditional infusion was always higher for both concentrations of chili powder studied. The concentration of capsaicinoids in samples treated by microwaves extraction seem to be dependent on the treatment time, resulting 130 and 230 ppm capsaicinoids for 10 and 60 seconds of treatment, respectively. In conclusion, the production of flavored olive oils by using technologies such as microwave and ultrasound-extraction could allow the production of high quality oils, with fast and cost-effectively methods.