Betalains from prickly-pear fruit: An alternative natural coloring for food

Abstract

Food coloring are additives that are usually incorporated into foods to make them more attractive to people. However, some mineral and synthetic dyes used in the food industry are related to harmful effects on human health. Natural dyes, such as betalains extracted from prickly-pear fruit, have fewer restrictions on use and represent a healthier alternative to enhance the appearance of food. In this work, a process to extract betalains from the pulp and peel of Cardona prickly-pear fruit was implemented and optimized. The extracted pigment was encapsulated in cornstarch. Then, it was analyzed the effect of the extract/encapsulant ratio on the amount of encapsulated betalains. It was found that the peel of this variety of prickly-pear fruit represents about 48% of its total weight. It was also demonstrated that concentrations of betalains in the peel (12.0 mg/g) and in the pulp (16.5 mg/g) are alike. For these reasons, we consider that the peel of red prickly-pear fruit is an ideal material for the extraction of betalains because it is a waste material with high content of red pigments.