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Wednesday 29 April 2015

5 – An industry perspective on natural food colour stability

A volume in Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition
2015, Pages 91–130

5 – An industry perspective on natural food colour stability


Abstract

The Southampton six study revolutionized the way industry formulated natural colours in food products. The replacement of artificial dyes has been challenging due to compatibility issues of natural colours with other food components, and led to gaps, for example, blue colours in acidic pH matrices. In addition, natural colours or colouring foods are more expensive, at a parity of colouring strengths, when compared to artificial dyes. Finally, colour overdosing is almost inevitable due to fast degradation, over processing and shelf life, and it is accompanied by inconvenient taste/odour issues derived from the original ingredient used to produce the colour. This chapter describes recent developments in stabilization techniques to improve performances of natural colours, as well as formulation strategies to limit losses during processing with some of the most common solutions. The last part of this chapter focuses on the necessity to develop new rapid methods to determine whether natural solutions are suitable for use in relevant food matrices.

Keywords

  • Natural colours;
  • Food applications;
  • Anthocyanins;
  • Carotenoids;
  • Betalains;
  • Chlorophyll;
  • Spirulina;
  • Gardenia blue;
  • Colour stability