Application of annatto dye formulation in bakery and extruded food products

The natural orange-yellow pigment extracted from annatto (Bixa orellana L.)
seeds is used mainly as a food colourant. Water-soluble annatto dye formulations
are used to colour various extruded food products such as rice and
wheat noodles, rice and sago fryums, as well as baked foods such as sugar
cones and wafer biscuits. Desired shades of yellow-orange to bright orange
colour were obtained by using a dye formulation in a range of 15–50 mg
norbixin/kg of the product. In sugar cones, application of norbixin at three
levels (15, 25 and 50 mg/kg) of concentration was applied to yield colour
shades that match those of vanilla, mango and strawberry respectively. The
colour was completely lost during processing of wafers. The retention of
colour in the sugar cones was in the range of 59.3, 51.6 and 41.4%, respectively,
over a 6-month period. The visual retention of colour and Lovibond
tintometer colour values in extruded products such as noodles and fryums
was found to be very good during the storage period. Norbixin in the
extruded foods could not be quantified accurately as the extraction of colour
into solvents was poor because of its affinity to bind with starch molecules.