Carotenoids food colorants

Klaiii, H. and Bauernfeind, J.C., Carotenoids as food color, in Carotenoids as Colorants and Vitamin A Precursors, Bauernfeind, J.C., Ed., Academic Press, New York, 1981, 48. 

Melendez-Martlnez, A.J. et al.. Color and carotenoid profile of Spanish Valencia late nltrafrozen orange juices. Food Res. Int., 38, 931, 2005. 

Runge F, Zwissler GK, End L, Schweikert L, and Horn D. 2001. Use of solubilized carotenoid for coloring food and pharmaceutical preparations, BASF, Germany. EP 848913. 

Chlorophyll. Chemically pure chlorophyll is difficult to prepare, since it occurs mixed with other colored substances such as carotenoids. Commercially it is solvent extracted from the dried leaves of various plants such as broccoli or spinach. Chlorophyll is water-iosoluble. It has none of the characteristics of a dye in that it has no aflinity for the usual libers such as cotton or wool. Chlorophyll is properly classified as a pigment tCI Natural Green 3 Cl 75810), As such. It finds use lor coloring soaps, waxes, inks. fats, or nils. Chlorophyll is an ester composed of an acidic pint, chlorophyllin, esterilied by an aliphatic alcohol known as phylol. Hydrolysis of chlorophyll using sodium hydroxide produces the moderately water-soluble sodium salts of chlorophyllin. phytol. and methanol. The magnesium in chlorophyllin may be replaced by copper. The sodium copper chlorophyllin salt is heat-stable, and is ideal for coloring foods where heat is involved, such as in canning. 

See also Annatto Food Colors Carotenoids Chlorophylls Colorants (Foods) and Photosynthesis. 

Carotenoid pigments can be extracted from natural sources or synthesized and are used to fortify and color foods. During the... 

The colors of foods are the result of natural pigments or of added colorants. The natural pigments are a group of substances present in animal and vegetable products. The added colorants are regulated as food additives, but some of the synthetic colors, especially carotenoids, are considered nature identical ... 

ZHAO Y p and chang k c (1995), Sulfite and starch affect color and carotenoids of dehydrated carrots (Daucus carota) during storage , J Food Sci, 60, 324-326, 347. 

C25H30O4, Mr 394.51, orange to purple-colored plates, mp. 217 °C. The more labile (9Z) form (a-bixin, bixin) of the carotinoid B. is contained in ripe seeds of the tropical annatto tree (roucou) Bixa orellana (Bixa-ceae). The crude concentrate is known as annatto (or-lean) and is used to color foods (E 160b), e. g., margarines and cheeses as well as cosmetics. lit. Beilstein EIV 2,2355 Britten et al.. Carotenoids, Basel Birkhauser 1995 Helv. Chim. Acta 82, 696 (1999) (synthesis) Merck-Index (12.), No. 1347 Phytochemistry 46,1379 (1997) (carotinoids from annatto) Zechmeister 18,320-330. - [HS 320300 CAS 6983-79-5 (a-B.) 39937-23-0 (p-B.)l... 

Carotenoids, especially p-carotene (1), often have been used for coloring food products. This is especially common in such fatty foods as margarine. Bixa orellana, achiote or an-... 

Recently, food processors and technologists have shown a great interest in the extraction, identification, and purification of natural colorants, including carotenoids. This unit describes a practical way of extracting, isolating, and purifying... 

NATURAL FOOD COLORS. Colors abound in the plant and animal kingdom which can be used for coloring foods. None of these require batch certification. Some are nutrients in their own right, others are spices, and still others fall under the general classification of carotenoids a product of which nature makes about 400 million lb (180 million kg) annually. Table C-20 lists most of the more common approv naturallyoccurring color compounds, and indicates their source and use. 

The advantage of using carotenoids, rather than other substances, as colorants is their natural origin, which neutralizes any rejection (especially on the part of the consumer) when they are used to color foods. The external addition of carotenoids to... 

Animals that do not readily accept pelleted feeds may be enticed to do so if the feed carries an odor that induces ingestion. Color development is an important consideration in aquarium species and some animals produced for human food. External coloration is desired in aquarium species. Pink flesh in cultured salmon is desired by much of the consuming pubHc. Coloration, whether external or of the flesh, can be achieved by incorporating ingredients that contain pigments or by adding extracts or synthetic compounds. One class of additives that imparts color is the carotenoids. 

Because of the multiple conjugated olefinic stmcture in the molecule, pure crystalline carotenoids are very sensitive to light and air and must be stored in sealed containers under vacuum or inert gas to prevent degradation. Thus, commercial utilization as food colorings was initially limited however, stable forms were developed and marketed as emulsions, oil solutions and suspensions, and spray-dried forms. 

Canthaxanthin. The newest of the synthetically produced carotenoid color additives, canthaxanthin [514-78-3] (39) (P-carotene-4-4 -dione), became commercially available about 1969 (60). Its Cl designation is Food Orange 8, Cl No. 40850. Its EEC designation is E 160g. 

Canthaxanthin crystallines from various solvents as brownish violet, shiny leaves that melt with decomposition at 210°C. As is the case with carotenoids in general, the crystals are sensitive to light and oxygen and, when heated in solution or exposed to ultraviolet light or iodine, form a mixture of cis and trans stereoisomers. Consequentiy, crystalline canthaxanthin should be stored under inert gas at low temperatures. Unlike the carotenoid colorants P-carotene and P-apo-8 -carotenal, canthaxanthin has no vitamin A activity. It is chemically stable at pH 2—8 (the range normally encountered in foods) and unaffected by heat in systems with a minimal oxygen content. 

Carotenoids have two general characteristics of importance to the food iadustry they are not pH sensitive ia the normal 2—7 range found ia foods, and they are not affected by vitamin C, making them especially important for beverages. They are more expensive than synthetic food dyes and have a limited color range. In their natural environment they are quite stable, but they become more labile when heated or when they are ia solution. Under those conditions, there is a tendency for the trans-double bonds to isomerize to the cis-stmcture with a subsequent loss of color iatensity. The results of controlled tolerance and toxicity tests, usiag pure carotenoids, iadicate that they are perfecdy safe as food colors (132). 

Beta-carotene is used in foods to provide color (margarine would look as white as vegetable shortening without it). Another similar molecule, annatto, is used in cheeses. Another famous carotenoid dye, saffron, is used to color rice and other foods. 

Saffron is a spice that is used sometimes for flavor, but mostly for the yellow color it imparts to foods. Because of its expense, saffron is often replaced in recipes by another carotenoid, annatto, or the unrelated dye molecule in turmeric. Like the other carotenoid dyes, saffron is an antioxidant, but its expense makes it unsuitable as a preservative or dietary supplement. 

New research has demonstrated that carotenoids may also lend additional health benefits that may possibly reduce the risk of certain types of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Carotenoids are also important natural sources of orange, yellow, and red food coloring for the food and beverage industries. ... 

Carotenoids are also present in animal products such as eggs, lobsters, greyflsh, and various types of hsh. In higher plants, they occur in photosynthetic tissues and choloroplasts where their color is masked by that of the more predominant green chlorophyll. The best known are P-carotene and lycopene but others are also used as food colorants a-carotene, y-carotene, bixin, norbixin, capsanthin, lycopene, and P-apo-8 -carotenal, the ethyl ester of P-apo-8-carotenic acid. These are Upid-soluble compounds, but the chemical industry manufactures water-dispersible preparations by formulating coUoid suspensions by emulsifying the carotenoids or by dispersing them in appropriate colloids. ... 

Most of this amount is in the form of fucoxanthin in various algae and in the three main carotenoids of green leaves lutein, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin. Others produced in much smaller amounts but found widely are p-carotene and zeaxanthin. The other pigments found in certain plants are lycopene and capsanthin (Figure 2.2.1). Colorant preparations have been made from all of these compounds and obviously the composition of a colorant extract reflects the profile of the starting material. Carotenoids are probably the best known of the food colorants derived from natural sources. ... 

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