Dried Red Chilli export from India

Overview

Dried red chilli (Capsicum annuum) is India’s single largest spice export, carrying about 27 per cent of the basket by value, and it is the clearest example of a spice that must be bought on two independent specifications. Pungency is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) and surface colour in ASTA units, and the two do not move together. A hot chilli can be dull, and a brilliantly red chilli can be mild, so a buyer who names only one axis has under-specified the order.

The reference points make the split concrete. Guntur Sannam S4 runs roughly 35,000–45,000 SHU but only ASTA colour 100–120; it is bought for heat. Byadgi is a mild 8,000–15,000 SHU yet reaches ASTA 130–150 with a deep wrinkled red skin, and it is bought for colour and oleoresin extraction rather than bite. Teja S17 is a hot North-Telangana type quoted around ASTA 110–130, with SHU widely cited very high but not reliably verified, so a careful contract states its colour and leaves the SHU to a test report. A seasoning house that wants both heat and colour simply buys and blends two chillies.

Beyond heat and colour, buyers judge chilli on pod length and wholeness, moisture, broken/loose seed content, stalk (with vs without), and freedom from mould. Whole dried chilli is a bulky, light cargo: it cubes out, filling a container’s volume long before its weight limit, so chilli ships light and logistics are planned on volume. Ground chilli, flakes and de-stemmed pods are the value-added forms.

Chilli’s compliance exposure is the most demanding in the basket. Aflatoxin is the key contaminant, with EU limits of 5 µg/kg for B1 and 10 µg/kg total for dried chillies, and Indian chilli sits under increased EU border controls. The historic adulteration risk is Sudan and other illegal red dyes, which carry zero tolerance, so lab-tested, traceable lots and clean drying practice matter here more than for almost any other spice.

The read

Chilli is more than a quarter of India’s spice export earnings, and it is the clearest case of the trade’s hidden specification: heat and colour are separate. Guntur Sannam S4 runs 35,000–45,000 SHU but only ASTA 100–120; Byadgi runs a mild 8,000–15,000 SHU but ASTA 130–150 and is bought for colour extraction. A seasoning house wanting both buys and blends both. The compliance exposure is aflatoxin (EU limit 5 µg/kg B1) and, historically, Sudan dye adulteration — which is why lab-tested, traceable lots matter here more than anywhere.

Growing regions

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana dominate volume, with Guntur hosting Asia’s largest chilli market and effectively setting the world red-chilli price; Karnataka’s Byadgi belt supplies the colour chillies. The crop is planted after the monsoon and harvested from late winter into spring, with pods sun-dried in yards before grading. Guntur Sannam and Byadagi chillies are GI-registered origins.

• Guntur
• Byadgi

Sourcing & export considerations

• Available as whole pods (with or without stalk), powder, flakes/crushed, and as oleoresin/capsaicin extract
• Specify SHU (heat) and ASTA colour separately, plus pod length, moisture, broken/loose-seed limit and stalk preference
• Cleaned, de-stemmed and sortex-sorted; steam-sterilised, ETO-free lots available for markets that require them
• Compliance flags: aflatoxin (EU 5 µg/kg B1, 10 µg/kg total) with increased EU border controls, plus zero-tolerance Sudan/illegal-dye screening
• Whole chilli cubes out (fills volume before weight), so it ships light and freight is planned on volume, not tonnage
• Buyers favour current-crop, well-dried, mould-free material; poor drying is the main driver of aflatoxin failures
• Traceability to grower/lot and a recent contaminant test dossier are effectively required for EU and US buyers
• Sample 50–100 kg and blend-scale MOQs follow standard trade practice; state the test method (e.g. ASTA colour) on the contract