Advanced Natural Food Colorant Encapsulation Methods: Anthocyanin Plant Pigment

Abstract

Color is one of the major attributes in consumers’ perception toward food quality. Synthetic food colorants are alleged to have links to behavioral and health problems. Due to consumers’ high awareness over the health issues, natural food colorants are the perfect alternative or substitute for the synthetic food colorants. Anthocyanin, a natural pigment, can be found abundantly in fruits and vegetables and its color ranges from bright red to blue. Anthocyanin plant pigments have raised interest due to their ability to be used as natural food colorants with outstanding novel health-promoting properties. Despite its great health potential, anthocyanin has limited application simply due to its instability during processing and storage and also to its unsuitability in various food products. The food industry is continuously looking forward to utilizing the encapsulation technology to improve the natural pigment stability in food products, protect the natural colorant from harsh environmental conditions, promote controlled release, and also to prolong the shelf life of products. The objective of this chapter is to provide a brief overview on encapsulation methods that have been used for anthocyanins, including spray-drying, freeze-drying, and most recently, the microwave-assisted encapsulation. The source, stability, color variation, and application of anthocyanins in food products are also briefly discussed.