Physicochemical properties, degradation kinetics, and antioxidant capacity of aqueous anthocyanin-based extracts from purple carrots compared to synthetic and natural food colorants

Characterization of Purple Carrot Germplasm for Antioxidant Capacity and Root Concentration of Anthocyanins, Phenolics, and Carotenoids

“…Of the materials analyzed, accessions 1-7 exhibited a high anthocyanin concentration (with mean TAC HPLC values, for both years, in the range of 1402-3172 mg kg −1 fw), of which accessions 1 (P9547; 2838.9 mg kg −1 fw), 3 (Pusa asita; 1541.1 mg kg −1 fw), 2 (Purple 68; 1491.5 mg kg −1 fw), 4 (Night bird; 1373.2 mg kg −1 fw), and 7 (Black carrot; 1322 mg kg −1 fw) had the greatest AA concentration, in absolute values, suggesting that these materials will be highly suitable for the production of food dyes. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that among carrot AA, those acylated with ferulic (Cy3XFGG) and coumaric acid (Cy3XCGG) were the most chemically stable anthocyanins [18]. Accessions 1, 2, 4 and 7, which were all rich in AA, had the highest Cy3XFGG content, with mean values for both years ranging from 1096 to 1866 mg kg −1 fw, suggesting that these are the most suitable genotypes in our germplasm collection for extracting chemically stable food colorants.…”

“…In total, 66 roots from 22 accessions were sampled in 2018, whereas 87 roots from 29 accessions were sampled in 2019. The mid-section of the root (i.e., the middle third part of the root, as cut transversally in three sections of equal length) was used for anthocyanin and phenolics extraction, as described previously [15,18]. Briefly, the root tissues were mixed with methanol acidified with 10% formic acid, in different ratios depending on the level of pigment intensity of the carrot accession [e.g., 1:3 and 1:10 (w/v), for roots with low and high purple pigmentation, respectively].…”

“…High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the concentration of anthocyanin pigments in the methanolic root extracts of the 27 anthocyanincontaining carrot accessions (i.e., the solid orange and yellow-rooted accessions were not analyzed for anthocyanins), according to methods previously described [18]. HPLC analysis was carried out using a UHPLC apparatus (Shimadzu, SIL30-AC, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with a binary pump system (LC-30AD, Nexera, Shimadzu), an autosampler-injector (SIL-30AC, Nexera X2, Shimadzu), a photodiode array UV-VIS detector (SPD-M30A Nexera X2, Shimadzu), and a C18 column (3 µm, 2.1 × 150 mm, UFLC Aqueous, RESTEK).…”

“…The composition of anthocyanins in the purple carrot is highly relevant, as these pigments are used as colorants for the food industry, and it has been found that AA are chemically more stable (i.e., they are less susceptible to degradation under a broader range of temperature, light, and pH conditions used for conservation of food products) than their non-acylated counterparts, suggesting that the former are more suitable as food dyes [9,15,17]. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that among carrot AA, those acylated with ferulic (Cy3XFGG) and coumaric acid were the most chemically stable carrot pigments [18]. Conversely, NAA were found to be substantially more bioavailable than AA, in studies using anthocyanins from carrot [14,19] and red cabbage [20].…”

Differential and Cultivar-Dependent Antioxidant Response of Whole and Fresh-Cut Carrots of Different Root Colors to Postharvest UV-C Radiation

“…Anthocyanin profiles in the carrot extracts were obtained by HPLC analysis using the same equipment described above, following methods and conditions described by Perez et al [ 41 ]. The mobile phase was distilled water acidified with 1% ( v / v ) formic acid as solvent A and methanol as solvent B.…”