Annatto compounds

Pour annatto compounds (natural color conqioundsX a- and /l-bixin and a- and fi-norbixin, were extracted from high-fat daily products and resolved on a C g column X = 500 nm). Peaks were unresolved and extremely fronted when a 100% methanol mobile phase was used [277], However, the use of a 90/10 methanol/water (2% acetic acid) mobile phase produced good peak shape and excellent resolution. The addition of acetic acid obviously kept the analytes frilly protonated, therelqr generating symmetric peak shape. The analysis was complete in < lOmin. Detection limits of 5ng/g and calibration ranges up to 450pg/g were reported for the all analytes. 

Exempt colorants are made up of a wide variety of organic and inorganic compounds representing the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. Some, like -carotene and 2inc oxide, are essentially pure factory-produced chemicals of definite and known composition. Others, including annatto extract, cochineal extract, caramel, and beet powder are mixtures obtained from natural sources and have somewhat indefinite compositions. 

ANNATTO FOOD COLORS. These colors are natural carotenoid colorants derived from the seed of the tropical annatto tree (Bixa nrellana). The surface of the seeds contains a highly colored resin, consisting primarily of the carotenoid bixin. The bixin is extracted from the seed by a special process to produce a pure, soluble colorant. Bixin, one of the relatively few naturally occurring cts compounds, has a chemical structure similar to the nucleus of carotene with a free and esterified carboxyl group as end groups. Its formula is CM LoCL. (See Fig. I). 

Margarine is colored with carotenoids, and synthetic p-carotene is by far the most widely used. Carotene dissolves very slowly in oil. Therefore, the compound is pulverized to a particle size of 2-5 pm and the microcrystals are suspended in oil to retard oxidation (228). Natural extracts containing carotenoids, for example, annatto (bixin), carrot oil, and red palm oil also have been used. Annatto, which is used in butter, is somewhat sensitive to light and may have an orange or slightly pink hue, particularly when the aqueous phase is acid (4). Mixtures of annatto and turmeric extracts result in a more typical color than annatto alone (229). Many margarine manufacturers purchase blends of colors and vitamins customized for their specific products. 

Bixin is prepared by boiling annatto with alcohol and sodium carbonate. On adding soda solution to the extract, the sodium compound of bixin separates this is purified by recrystallising from dilute alcohol, and the bixin liberated by hydrochloric acid [51]. 

Carotenoids extracted from natural sources are widely used as food dyes. Annatto, a tropical shrub extract, is intensely colored due to the presence of the carotenoid bixin, and it can be used to color Cheddar cheese, margarine, and butter. This dye is completely harmless in fact, the natural yellow color of butter is due to carotenoids found in grass. When grass dries into hay, these compounds are destroyed. Winter butter, therefore, tends to be white, and producers often add carotenoids to it to increase its market appeal. 

In a 21-day study, mice were given drinking water containing annatto extract (56 or 351 mg/kg) or the compound norbixin (0.8, 7.6, 66, or 274 mg/kg), and rats were given drinking water containing annatto extract (0.8, 7.5 or 68 mg/kg) or norbixin (0.8,8.5, or 74 mg/kg). In rats, no toxicity was detected by plasma chemistry. In mice, norbixin induced an increase in plasma alanine aminotransferase activity (Fernandes et al. 2002). 

No adverse effects and no accumulation of carotenoid compounds (bixin and norbixin) were observed in rats orally administered diets of 0.1% of annatto extracts containing primarily bixin or norbixin daily for 52 weeks (Philip 1981). 

A red, fight red, or yellow dye can be made fiom the seeds of Bixa Orellana L. (Bixaceae), an evergreen shrub that grows in Mexico and Central and South America. Commonly known as Annatto, the dyestuff contains bixin and crocetin, as well as several other yellow to orange-red compounds which behave like carotene (Diemair et al., 1933 Schweppe, 1992). 

Various natural dyes exist the use of most of these is unrestricted in most countries. Examples include caramel (brown), annatto (red-orange dye from achiote seeds, active ingredient is bixin, 24.32), chlorophyll (green from Chlorella algae), cochineal (red), betanin (red/purple from beets, 24.33 —various tautomers and zwitterions are possible), saffron (yellow the dye molecule is crocin, 24.34), turmeric (yellow, active dye is curcumin, 24.35), paprika (red, zeaxanthin, 24.36), and elderberry juice. Several of these compounds have been shown to have active benefits for human health. Such compounds are permitted as food dyes even when they are manufactured and synthetic carotene does not need to be extracted from carrots to be allowed. 

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