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Q: Dave,
I have quite an involved question on capsaicin. Can you tell me an exact way of extracting capsaicin from the habanero? You wrote to one guy, “Hot red chile peppers are dried, ground, and pelletized. They are treated with hexane, a petroleum distillate that acts as a solvent, and the result is oleoresin capsicum, a thick, reddish oil. The oil is heated to release all the hexane, which is distilled and reused. The spent chile pellets are sold as cattle feed. The oleoresin is refined to remove the oil, and the result is a crystalline powder called capsaicin. Simply put, what is happening is refining. By removing all components that are not capsaicin, you are left with pure capsaicin.” What is hexane, where can I get some, and how much does it take? Basically I would like to know an exact recipe of how to create pure capsaicin or a sauce containing mostly pure capsaicin.
Thanks from a fellow hothead,
Chris
A: Hello Chris:
Forget it. You need a multi-million dollar plant to do hexane extraction. Why would you want pure capsaicin, anyway? It’s a deadly poison and you have to wear a full body suit to handle it.
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