Application of Plant Pigments in Food

Annu Maria, Alexander (2009) Application of Plant Pigments in Food. Masters thesis, University of Mysore.

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Abstract

This Dissertation / Report is the outcome of investigation carried out by the creator(s) / author(s) at the department/division of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore mentioned below in this page.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Additional Information:	In this century, a global awareness is already set for the use of natural resources for saving the environment and earth from pollution and ecological imbalances. The present scenario is focused more towards the utilization of the vast diversity of natural resources of colour pigments for their use in food materials pharmaceuticals and textiles, instead of their synthetic counterparts, for safe guarding human health, as well as protecting and prolonging life on earth. Based on the studies reported in literature, it was found that the nature has abundant untapped resources which are having high potential to be developed as sources of natural colorants in foods. Studies carried out to tap these resources are mostly concentrated within a few pigments like anthocyanins ,carotenoids and betalains. Anthocyanins have been widely used for coloring of foods compared to other pigments. Very less work has been carried out in case of other pigments like chlorophyll,flavanoids other than anthocyanin, turmeric etc. The various works carried out on different pigments reveals that; • Anthocyanins have a high potential for use as a natural colorant due to their attractive orange, red, purple and blue colours ,but they have stability problems in food during processing and storage. The primary problem with the application of anthocyanin colorant is low stability to heat, light and pH changes. Acylation and copigmentation of anthocyanin was found to increase the stability of anthocyanin in food. • Carotenoids which forms the other major group of colorant pigment is found to be stable during processing and storage with minimal oxygen content. • The replacement of synthetic dyes by betalains is restricted by problems of stability, homogeneity and continuous availability. Thus, stability of betalain needs to be studied and new procedures should be standardised for preparation of colorant and for application to foods. • Except for a few references, not much work has been carried out on turmeric color which has got a high tinctorial power than all other natural colors. Work carried out on application of natural colors in food reveals that there is a lot of potential for the plant pigments to color a variety of foods like bakery foods,confectionary,beverages etc. The use of natural colourings in food products presents nutritional advantages, and certain pigments are associated with functional properties, e.g. antioxidant effects. This can be very advantageous in food products with high fat contents like mayonnaises. Cold storage and modified atmosphere for storage of colored products, enzymatic control, handling practices, extraction procedures, purification, concentration, and finishing operations of color preparation needs to be studied in detail. Concerning the food quality and safety, the natural colourings present significant benefits compared to the synthetic ones, even if it may be due to psychological concerns of the consumer. In fact, nature-derived pigments are easily accepted as being healthy and are thus a major issue for the food industry. Keeping in view, the toxicity of synthetic colors and reduction in number of allowed synthetic colors by legislation, collection of data on replacement of synthetic colors by natural pigments is very much needed. This information will be of much use to food processors in future when there may be a complete ban on synthetic colors.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Plant pigments; Carotenoids; food; natural colors
Subjects:	600 Technology > 08 Food technology > 31 Food Additives 500 Natural Sciences and Mathematics > 10 Plants
Divisions:	Plantation Products Spices and Flavour Technology
Depositing User:	Food Sci. & Technol. Information Services
Date Deposited:	13 Jul 2010 12:12
Last Modified:	11 May 2012 03:32
URI:	http://ir.cftri.res.in/id/eprint/9549

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