Effect of high-temperature degradative processes on ketocarotenoids present in paprika oleoresins.

Carotenoid pigments in six commercial oleoresins, qualitatively uniform in pigment composition, were thermodegraded to determine the degradation kinetics in the two (red and yellow) isochromic fractions, structurally differentiated by the presence or absence of keto groups. The different rate of degradation of total pigment indicates that the oily medium modulates the degradation reaction differently, so that each oleoresin shows a different stability. However, in all the oleoresins, the red pigment fraction is degraded at a higher rate than the yellow. Arrhenius curves reveal an isokinetic temperature (T(isok)) distinguishing two zones in which the degradation process has a different effect on each fraction. At temperatures above T(isok), degradation is preferentially toward the red fraction, while at lower temperatures, it is toward the yellow fraction. An isokinetic point between the two pigment fractions means that the thermal conditions at which the stability of the system is to be determined must be stated, as such conditions produce a different effect on each fraction.