ASTA Colour Explained What 100 to 260 Means on a Chili Spec
Buyers argue about heat and then get caught out by colour. ASTA is the figure that actually decides whether a sausage, a snack seasoning or a sauce looks the way it looked last quarter.
What the number is
ASTA colour is the American Spice Trade Association measurement of extractable colour in a ground spice. A higher number means more extractable red. It is not a measure of heat, of quality or of variety, and a high ASTA chili can be completely mild.
Paprika as a category runs from about 70 to 220 ASTA. Our sweet paprika pods and powders are graded at 100 to 220 ASTA, our ground chili products at 100 to 220 ASTA, and our whole chili pods at 60 to 180 ASTA. Paprika pellet, which is made as extraction feedstock, reaches 260 ASTA because in an extract the colour is the yield.
Sweet paprika powder from our mill. Two lots that both meet a 100 to 220 ASTA band can still look different if no target point inside the band was agreed.
Why a band and not a number
Chili is an agricultural product. A single figure quoted for a whole season is either a promise nobody can keep or an average nobody is happy with. A band says what the range of the crop is, and then the lot is selected or blended to the point in the band you bought against last time.
That is the practical difference between buying to a specification and buying to a sample. A sample tells you what one bag looked like. A band plus a target tells you what the next twenty containers will look like.
How ASTA behaves after you buy it
ASTA falls with time, light and heat. A powder loses colour faster than a whole pod because more surface is exposed. That is one reason processors who grind in house often buy whole pods: the colour clock starts at their mill rather than at ours.
If the colour of a finished product is drifting and the incoming certificate has not changed, look at storage and at how late in the cook the spice goes in before you look at the supplier.
What to send us when you ask for a quote
The certificate of analysis you receive from your current supplier is the fastest starting point. Colour in ASTA, heat in SHU, mesh, moisture and seed content are the five figures that decide everything else about a quotation.
Questions About This Guide
Does a higher ASTA mean better quality?
No. It means more extractable red. A high ASTA chili can be completely mild and a low ASTA chili can be extremely hot. Colour and heat are independent measurements.
Why does my supplier quote a band instead of a figure?
Because chili is agricultural. A band says what the crop can do; your order then buys a target point inside it, which is the part that has to go on the contract.
How fast does ASTA fall in storage?
Faster in powder than in whole pods, and faster in light and heat than in a dark cool store. If your finished colour is drifting but the incoming certificate is not, look at storage first.
Put These Numbers on a Purchase Order
Send us the colour, heat and mesh you have settled on and we will quote it landed at your port.