Biocolourants and Their Applications in Food Industry
Poorniammal, R.*
Dept. of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (641 003), India
S. Prabhu
Dept. of Plant Nematology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (641 003), India
A.R. Sakthi
Centre for Plant Molecular Biology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (641 003), India
DOI: NIL
Keywords: Biocolour, Food application, Microbial pigment, Plant pigment
Abstract
Biocolorants are prepared from renewable sources and majority is of plant and microbial origin. The main food biocolorants are carotenoids, flavanoids, anthocyanins, chlorophyll, betalain and crocin, which are extracted from several horticultural plants. The pigments from microbial sources are a good alternative that could easily be produced in high yields and capability of producing different coloured pigments. Pigment producing microorganisms and microalgae are quite common in nature. Pigment produced by microorganisms includes carotenoids, melanins, flavins, quinones and more specifically monascins, violacein, phycocyanin or indigo. In addition to food coloring, biocolorants also act as antimicrobials, antioxygens and thereby prevent several diseases and disorders in human beings. Although, biocolorants have several potential benefits, yet tedious extraction procedures, low colour value, higher cost than synthetic dyes, instability during processing etc., hinders their popularity.
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Reference
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