ANTHOCYANIN FOOD COLORING
The reds, the blues, and the purples in nature are most likely to be because of the presence of anthocyanin color. Fruits like berries, currants and red grapes have high anthocyanin content which gives them their rich, deep color.
WHAT IS ANTHOCYANIN FOOD COLOR?
Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar colorants that appear in hues of blue, red, purple, or black, depending on their pH content. Anthocyanin color is widely used by food color manufacturers in a variety of food items including bakery & confectionery products, beverages, fruit preparations / fillings, dairy food products, potatoes, pasta, and rice, soups, sauces, and dressings, meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, and seasonings. The food coloring is of two types – organic and conventional. It is the functional properties of anthocyanins such as being anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant that make them so popular for use in the food manufacturing industry. With the consumers preferring to go with healthier alternatives in food, colorants such as anthocyanins have become much more popular.
WHY ARE FOOD COLORS IMPORTANT?
Food appeals to many different senses of the human body. Even before food is tasted, a person tends to make up his / her mind about whether they like the food. The aroma of the food is one factor that attracts a person towards a particular food. Another key factor is the visual appeal of the food. Food that looks bright and colorful tends to attract the eye and looks more appetising. During the process of cooking or even food processing, food ingredients tend to lose their natural color. This is when food colors become important. Food colors add a boost of color to the processed food, making it look more inviting and attractive.
In the past, synthetic food colors were used liberally to color food products. Synthetic food colors are produced through chemical reactions and can be produced in large quantities. This brings down their price and makes them more economical for use in large scale food manufacturing. However, research in recent years have raised doubts about health concerns regarding the use of synthetic food colors in food. It is in this context that natural food colors like anthocyanins, that are derived from plants, have come into demand.
Anthocyanins are a natural food color derived from fruits and vegetables, which is an important reason why they are used so commonly in the beverage segments as well as fruit fillings and preparations segments. The food color is pleasing to the eye and attractive in foods as well as a healthy alternative to artificial food colors. Food-grade anthocyanins are used not just in the food industry. Personal care products such as nail paints, hair colors and dyes, lipstick, body lotion, and face cream use anthocyanins as an ingredient due to their antioxidant property.
CHALLENGES IN WORKING WITH ANTHOCYANINS
Like other natural colors, anthocyanins are also high in cost. They are also less stable than synthetic food colors and cause hypersensitivity. The high concentration of the extract also impacts the taste of the food it is added to. There are also stringent regulations to be followed for the use of anthocyanins as colorants.Â