Pepper (Capsicum) belongs to the Solanaceae family and is native to South America where, through Columbus, came to Spain and began its farming. Initially, the monks began their acclimatization in monasteries such as La Ñora (Murcia) and Yuste (Cáceres), later moving to be cultivated by the people. Drying and grinding of peppers gives as a result paprika. There are different species of Capsicum to obtain paprika. The most common species are annumm, chínense, frutescens and pubescens, although there are many more.
Sweet paprika is a spice made from specific varieties of dry pepper. The grinding process can be done “desbinzando” (without seeds), integral (with the own seeds) or by adding more seeds. This accomplishes preparing different grades of paprika, from 60 to 160 ASTA.
Hot or Spicy paprika is obtained from different varieties from sweet peppers and may have different intensities in the spicy according to the variety used because it has different content in capsaicin that is the compound that gives the spiciness or Pungency. Pungency can be measured in Scoville (SHU, Scoville heat units), which is a sensory measurement scale and therefore inaccurate, or ppm, quantifying the content by chromatography. The relationship between these two scales is 15:1; 15 SHU equals 1 ppm.
Smoked paprika is made with sweet varieties which may be the same or different from those used for sweet paprika but during the drying process in vertical current dryers are subjected to smoke from oak wood, oak and aromatic shrubs. This drying, which can last up to two weeks, gives a unique aroma and flavor with paprika.
Paprika is classified commercially with ASTA degrees, which is a measure of paprika coloring power. In general, higher ASTA, higher quality.
As for the packaging, we can produce with our brand, Fenix Spices, or the customer, in different formats:
- Big bags from 500 kg to 1,000 kg.
- 25 Kg raffia sacks with PE inner sheath.
- 25 Kg paper sacks with PE inner sheath.
- 25 Kg PE with PE inner sheath with inner film or barrier that allows us to make inert atmosphere packaging delaying the natural oxidation of carotenoids of paprika.
- Cans of 10 kg.
- Raffia or aluminized Bags from 5 to 10 kg.
- Canister from 1000 g to 50 g.