Chemistry of food colour

Gennaro, M. C., C. Abrigo, and G. Cipolla. 1994. High performance liquid chromatography of food colours and its relevance in forensic chemistry. Journal of Chromatocranhv A 674 281-299. 

Multon, J., Ed., Analysis of Food Constituents, John WUey Sons, New York, 1996. CIE, Technical Report Improvement in Industrial Colour-Difference Evaluation, Pnblication 142-2001, Commission Internationale de I Eclairage, Vienna, 2001. Watson, D.H., Food Chemical Safety, vols. 1 and 2, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2002. King, S., Gates, M., and Scalettar, L., Eds., Current Protocols in Food Analytical Chemistry, John Wiley Sons, New York, 2001. 

Lloyd, A.G., Extraction and chemistry of cochineal. Food Chem., 5, 91,1980. Yamada, S. et al.. Analysis of natural colouring matters in food (IV). Methylation of cochineal colour with diazomethane for analysis of food products, J. Agric. Food Chem., 41, 1071, 1993. 

Ledward D A (1991), Colour of raw and cooked meat , in Johnston D E, Knoght M K and Ledward D A, The Chemistry of Muscle-based Foods, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 128-144. 

The sixth chapter of Food The Chemistry of its Components (fourth edition), by T. P. Coultate, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2002, revels in the colours of nature, as well as synthetic chromophores. 

Much of the detailed chemistry to understand food colorants comes from the textile and paint industry. Otterstatter (1999) and Christie (2001) state that colorants can be classified according to their chemical composition and method of application. The latter method of classification is detailed in The Colour Index (1988) and outlined by Otterstatter (1999), but is of limited use in our study of food colorants. In classification of food colorants two approaches are commonly taken, firstly, that based on the origin of the colorant and secondly, that based on chemical stractme. In relation to origin this refers to whether a food colorant is natural, natme-identical or synthetic (Dalzell, 1997). Probably the best definition of a natural colorant is one which is synthesised, accumulated or excreted from a living cell (Dalzell, 1997). Nature-identical colorants are those produced by a chemical synthesis to match the chemical stmctme of colorants found in nature. Synthetic colorants are those which are chemically synthesised and do not occur in nature. Proudlove (1994) considers that we should not use the term synthetic, but instead split food colorants into those naturally present in foods and those added to foods. This, however, also... 

A detailed description of the biochemistry, chemistry and biology of natural colour pigments can be found in the book Natural Food Colorants. The book also covers the role of biotechnology in the production of colorants as well as safety aspects. Another book with the same title, Natural Food Colorants, assembles the manuscripts from a two-day Basic Symposium on Natural Colorants held in Chicago in July 1999. The book covers natural colorant chemistry, preparation, formulation, application and measurement as well as safety, regulatory and health considerations. ... 

Casier J.P.J., Zenous A.A. and de Paepe G.M.J. (1978) The chemistry of the black-caramel colour substances of several human foods. In Flavor of Foods and Beverages, Chemistry and Technology (Athens, 27-29.6.78). Char-alambous G. and Inglett Eds, Academic Press, New York, pp. 169-97. 

Apart from the derivatives of p-carotene, other pigments are the anthocyanins, the chlorophylls, cochineal, the betalaines, turmeric, caramel and riboflavin. In this account the historical background in brief, the chemistry of these pigments, their extraction from natural sources and their synthesis will be discussed. The present permitted natural substances and nature-identical synthetic materials (also described by the Food and Drugs Administration, the FDA, as colorants exempt from certification ) is quite small in number. Reference is also made to colourants no longer listed but which have an historical organic chemical significance such as for example brazilin and its relative haematoxylin. 

A hundred thousand years ago, Man had begun to prepare food with the aid of fire, and started chemistry while cooking. With help from the Maillard reaction, the taste of his food became more sophisticated and pleasant. The typical smell of warm, crusty bread, the marvellous taste of a roast, the fine odour of roasted coffee, the spicy aroma and the colour of beer, result all from this little-known named reaction. Precise analysis of food ingredients and the development of highly specialised processing technologies allow for the industrial-scale preparation of tasty, appealing and readily available meals and snacks, which are... 

Govindarajan VS (1986) Capsicum - production, technology, chemistry and quality chemistry of colour, aroma and pungency stimuli. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 24 245-355... 

Sapers G.M., Hicks K.B., Phillips J.G., Garzarella L., Pondish D.L., Matulaitis R.M., McCormack T.J., ScotterM.J. Characterization of the coloured thermal degradation products of bixin from annatto and a revised mechanism for their formation. Food Chemistry, 53 177-185... 

Javeed Akhtar, M., Jacquot, M., Arab-Tehrany, E., Gaiani, C., Linder, M. and Desobry, S. (2010). Control of salmon oil photo-oxidation during storage in HPMC packaging film Influence of film colour. Food Chemistry, 120,395 01. 

Buchweitz, M., Nagel, A., Carle, R., Kammerer, D. R. (2012). Characterisation of sugar beet pectin fractions providing enhanced stability of anthocyanin-based natural blue food colourants. Food Chemistry, 132, 1971-1979. 

We are what we eat. Like our food, we are all made of sugar, protein, fat and a host of other chemicals. And like what we eat, the resulting product depends not on any individual element, but rather the combination of ingredients that interact in a complex chemistry that contributes colour, texture and aroma to our lives. Get the recipe right and the result can be propitious. But get the mix wrong and these interactions can alter the quality, function, and structure of our futures. 

In the early years of their use, plastics were regarded as essentially unreactive materials and there was a widespread ignorance of the chemistry of the materials and of the variety of compounds used in their manufacture. A decade or so ago, reports of adverse reactions arising from the use of plastics in a number of applications began to appear. These included problems of colour modification, flavour and odour taint of packaged food, and also unforeseen biological effects due to the use of plastics in the construction of medical appliances. Health problems associated with vinyl chloride processing led to the... 

The discovery that, in industrialised societies, diets deficient in fruits and vegetables can effectively double the risk of developing many different types of cancer has focused renewed attention on the beneficial properties of these foods (Block e/a/., 1992 Patterson ef a/., 1990 Southon and Faulks, 2002). As we have seen, plant foods are rich in micronutrients, but they also contain an immense variety of biologically active secondary metabolites providing colour, flavour and natural toxicity to pests and sometimes humans (Johnson et ah, 1994). The chemistry and classification of such substances is still a matter for much research and debate, but this has not prevented attempts to isolate and exploit substances that have variously been termed protective factors , phytoprotectants , phytochemicals and nutraceuticals . Phytochemical compounds include ... 

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