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Thermal Stability of Selected Natural Red Extracts Used as Food Colorants

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Abstract

The color degradation of aqueous solutions of six natural red pigment extracts (elderberry, red cabbage, hibiscus, red beet, Opuntia fruits and red cochineal) used commercially as food colorants was investigated at temperatures between 50 and 90 °C. Color degradation was studied in respect to both spectral properties and visual color. The remaining absorbance at 535 nm as a function of the incubation time and temperature was used to quantify the degradation process. Red cochineal was the most thermoresistant extract with a remaining absorbance of 95 % after 6 h at 90 °C. Anthocyanin extracts (elderberry, red cabbage, hibiscus) showed remaining absorbance percentages of 63.8, 46.1 and 26.7, respectively. Betacyanin extracts (red beet, Opuntia fruits) were the most thermosensitive maintaining only 12.5 and 1.7 %, respectively, of the initial absorbance at 535 nm. Applying a first-order kinetic model to the degradation processes, reaction rate constants (k) and half-life periods (t 1/2 ) were calculated. The temperature dependence of the degradation rate constant obeyed the Arrhenius relationship, with activation energies (E a ) ranging between 3.02 and 53.37 kJ mol−1. The higher activation energy values indicated greater temperature sensitivity. Changes in visual color attributes corroborated the high thermal stability of the red cochineal extract.

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Abbreviations

λmax :

Wavelength of maximum absorption

k:

Reaction rate constant

t 1/2 :

Half-life period

Ea :

Activation energy

ΔE*:

Total color difference

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT), Paseo Alfonso XIII 52, 30203, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain

    José A. Fernández-López, José M. Angosto, Pedro J. Giménez & Gerardo León

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  1. José A. Fernández-López
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  2. José M. Angosto
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  3. Pedro J. Giménez
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  4. Gerardo León
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Correspondence to José A. Fernández-López.

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Fernández-López, J.A., Angosto, J.M., Giménez, P.J. et al. Thermal Stability of Selected Natural Red Extracts Used as Food Colorants. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 68, 11–17 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-013-0337-1

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