Dr. R. V. PrasadSHAH, NIKUNJ ASHOKKUMAR2017-03-102017-03-102013http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810004705“Reshampatti” variety of red chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is considered as one of the most important commercial spice crops which is used in various forms; as raw fresh chopped chilli; or ground to a paste, broken split, whole form and dried. Chillies are integral and the most important ingredient in different cuisines as it adds pungency, color and flavor due to presence of alkaloid capsaicin. Chilli also has many medicinal properties. The present investigation was undertaken to optimize supercritical fluid extraction parameters to obtain maximum capsaicin content, pigment content and oleoresin yield from red chilli pepper. The percent moisture, ash, protein, crude fat, crude fiber and carbohydrate of fresh red chilli was observed to be 83.54 ± 0.52, 0.66 ± 0.08, 3.55 ± 0.02, 1.26 ± 0.01, 4.03 ± 0.07 and 6.93 ± 0.58 respectively. The effects of temperature (35, 45, 55, 65 and 75°C), pressure (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 bar), static time (60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min) and particle size (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 and 1.25 mm) were evaluated with respect to capsaicin content, pigment content and oleoresin yield in red chilli pepper. Optimization of supercritical fluid extraction was carried out by using central composite design. The optimized condition for capsaicin was 65°C temperature, 200 bar pressure, 90 min static time and 0.50 mm particle size. For pigment, it was 57.03°C temperature, 400 bar pressure, 100.87 min static time and 0.89 mm particle size. For optimized oleoresin yield, it was 65°C temperature, 400 bar pressure, 94.31 min static time and 0.50 mm particle size. Capsaicin, pigment and oleoresin yield, obtained at optimized SFE parameters were 2.126%, 16368.1 NCV and 5.945% respectively.enFood Processing Technology, Bio EnergymethodThesis