Increase flavour quality of Sichuan pepper(Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.)with optimized cleaning technology: Soaking and spraying

The current study presents the development of a specialized cleaning device for Sichuan pepper, which explores the effects of soaking technology, a combined soaking and spraying technology, and uncleaned on the quality of Sichuan pepper and its processed derivatives. The findings reveal that the highest impurity removal ratio achieved through this combined method was 78.385%. Furthermore, after employing the soaking and spraying technology, the concentration of numbing compounds in dried Sichuan pepper increased from 90.86 mg/g to 102.62 mg/g over a storage period of 120 days. Following the application of three distinct methods, the numbing compounds in Sichuan pepper oils ranged 4.88–4.95 mg/g. Additionally, the volatile oil content in two varieties of cleaned dried Sichuan pepper was recorded at 11.79 mL/100 g and 11.65 mL/100 g, both of which exceeded the levels found in uncleaned pepper. These results suggest that cleaning demonstrated significant efficacy in impurity removal and in mitigating the deterioration of the color of dried Sichuan pepper. Notably, the combined soaking and spraying cleaning method exhibited superior preservation effects on the content of numbing compounds and volatile aromatic components in Sichuan pepper products, thereby effectively prolonging the shelf life of dried Sichuan pepper. •Design and manufacture of a specialized Sichuan pepper cleaning device.•Established a comprehensive technical system for low-damage Sichuan pepper cleaning.•Flavour quality of Sichuan pepper could increase with optimized suitable cleaning technology.