What are Oleoresins?

Spice oleoresins are the concentrated liquid from the spices that reproduce the character of the respective spice fully. The spice oils are the oils distilled off from the spices at the initial stage before subject to solvent extraction. Spice oleoresins are largely used for flavoring of food particularly by large scale food processing and flavoring industries like meat canning, sauces, soft drinks, pharmaceutical preparations, perfumery and soap, tobacco, confectionery and bakery

Use

The oleoresins are used mainly as a flavouring agent in the food processing industry. They are more economical to use, easier to control for quality and cleaner than the equivalent ground spices. Oleoresins are more stable when heated. The main products in a spice oleoresin plant is oleoresins of chilli, pepper, ginger and turmeric. The co-products are the corresponding spice oils, which are widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Process

The volatile oil is distilled out from the ground spices. The wet powdered spice free from volatiles are dried and then extracted with suitable solvent systems to remove the fixed oil and resineous / gummy materials. The solvent is removed from the miscella, dried and the extract is mixed with the dry spice oil to the required level and the product is suitably packed in containers.