Betalains color production

In addition to the pigment concentration in the respective food source, the color quality is of major importance for plant material quality assessment and selection during production and storage. Color quality also strongly affects consumer purchase decisions. Since red beet is still the sole betalain source exploited commercially, quality parameters have been developed for beet preparations. The most important one is the so-called color shade representing a ratio of two absorbance values, namely for betaxanthins and for betacyanins, respectively, A (at 535 mn)/A (at 480 nm). 

Jimenez Aparicio, A. and Gntierez Lopez, G., Production of food related colorants by cnlture of plant cells the case of betalains., Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 464, 195, 1999. Berset, C., Proprietes fonctionelles des colorants alimentaires naturels, Ind. Alim. Agr., 1, 5, 1994. 

Various natural pigment classes, such as flavonoids, antho-cyanins, carotenoids, chlorophylls and chlorophyll derivatives, porphyrins, quinones, anthraquinones, betalains, and so forth are abundant in many families of the vegetable and animal kingdoms. As consumers generally dislike the color of synthetic dyes, the concentration and composition of pigments in foods and food products exert a considerable impact on the consumer acceptance and, consequently, on the commercial value of the products. It has been proven many times that one of the main properties employed for the commercial evaluation of the quality of products is their color that is, an adequate color is an important requirement of marketability. 

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