Natural Food Colorants, Their Emergence and Future Applications
摘要
The multiple functional characteristics of food colorants make them valuable assets in several industries. These are widely employed in food, flavor, perfume, cosmetic, and textile industries to enhance the functionalities, aesthetic appeal and marketability of products. Food colorants such as anthocyanins, betalains, carotenoids, curcuminoids, and caramels have biological properties and health benefits, are widely used to restore the functional properties and appearance of processed products. The carcinogenic and allergic effects of artificial colorants forced the scientific community to explore the true potential of bio-colorants. Among green products, the field of food is of much importance, where the herbal based natural food colorants are taking wide spread fame for their extended usage in every walk of life. In this chapter, the applications of bio-colorants have been studied in different industries to replace artificial colorants. This brief knowledge will open the vision of people to refrain from the use of carcinogenic products and to rush towards revival of natural food colorants for all fields.