Purification of capsicum red pigments by saponification and silica gel column chromatography

In order to purify the natural capsicum red pigments, alkaline ethanol saponification was taken to remove the fatty acid from the capsicum oleoresin and silica gel column chromatography was used to separate the capsaicin from capsicum red pigments. The results showed that the optimal saponification conditions were as follows :the concentration of NaOH solution was 0.8mol/L , solid -liquid ratio was 1∶15 (g/mL ) , ethanol concentration (V/V ) was 70% , the holding temperature was 50℃ and the saponification time was 2h. The optimum separation was achieved with sample volume at 1∶40, diameter-length ratio at 1∶10 and eluant flow rate at 1BV/h. The color value of purified capsicum red pigments was 672.