The effect of a natural antioxidant on the stability of heat-treated paprika

The colour loss occurring in a paprika made from the dehydrated fruits of pepper, Capsicum annuum L. var. Ocal (control), was compared with the colour lost by a similar paprika submitted to an industrial sanitation process involving water vapour. The heat treatment resulted in a considerable greater loss of colour when the paprika was stored at 25 °C in different relative humidities (0, 23, 57 and 75%) compared with the control paprika. The study also analysed the effect of adding a natural antioxidant (rosemary extract at 1%) to the heat-treated product. In this case, colour stability increased significantly in all the conditions assayed; the lower the humidity, the greater the increase in stability.