Dihydrocapsaicin (DHC)

Dihydrocapsaicin is a capsaicinoid and analog and congener of capsaicin in chili peppers (Capsicum). Like capsaicin it is an irritant. Dihydrocapsaicin accounts for about 22% of the total capsaicinoid mixture and has nearly, but not quite, the same pungency as capsaicin. Pure dihydrocapsaicin is a lipophilic colorless odorless crystalline to waxy compound. It is soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide and 100% ethanol.

Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin are two main bioactive components of Capsicum frutescens and are widely used as food additives and drugs in China and India. Due to their similarity in structures, isolation of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin with traditional methods such as silica gel column chromatography, normal-phase thin-layer chromatography (TLC) becomes difficult.