Progress and Prospective of the Industrial Development and Applications of Eco-Friendly Colorants: An Insight into Environmental Impact and Sustainability Issues

Abstract

Color is the prime feature directly associated with the consumer’s attraction and choice of their food. The flavor, safety, and nutritional value of any food product are directly associated with the food color. Natural and synthetic colorants (dyes and pigments) have diversified applications in various sectors such as food, feed, pharmaceutical, textiles, cosmetics, and others. Concerning the food industry, different types of natural and synthetic colorants are available in the market. Synthetic food colorants have gained popularity as they are highly stable and cheaply available. Consumers worldwide prefer delightful foodstuffs but are more concerned about the safety of the food. After its disposal, the colloidal particles present in the synthetic colorants do not allow sunlight to penetrate aquatic bodies. This causes a foul smell and turbidity formation and gives a bad appearance. Furthermore, different studies carried out previously have presented the toxicological, carcinogenic effects, hypersensitivity reactions, and behavioral changes linked to the usage of synthetic colorants. Natural food colorings, however, have nutraceutical qualities that are valuable to human health such as curcumin extracted from turmeric and beta-carotene extracted from carrots. In addition, natural colorants have beneficial properties such as excellent antioxidant properties, antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory, antineoplastic, and antiarthritic effects. This review summarizes the sources of natural and synthetic colorants, their production rate, demand, extraction, and characterization of food colorants, their industrial applications, environmental impact, challenges in the sustainable utilization of natural colorants, and their prospects.

Exploring natural colourants for enhanced sausage appeal: A review of sourcing, extraction methods, and applications, with emphasis on beetroot as an example

“…Clean Label: To enhance their perception of being natural and healthful, natural colourants are obtained from botanical, animal, or mineral sources and are frequently extracted using straightforward procedures. Natural colourant-containing products can thus make clean-label claims, which indicate minimum processing and no artificial chemicals or additions [47].…”

“…This lower energy use and carbon footprint help lessen climate change's effects. The biodegradability of natural colourants is an additional factor [52].…”

“…They shield food against unintended discolouration when processed, stored, or cooked. Natural colourants like turmeric and paprika extract are employed in sausage compositions to provide colour and improve or balance the product's flavour [56]. As a result, producers may produce desired tastes without using flavour enhancers or artificial additives.…”

Pendampingan Pewarnaan Batik Singonegoro Menggunakan Pewarna Alami Dari Tanaman Indigofera Tinctoria

“…Fluktuasi peningkatan jumlah konsumen yang sadar lingkungan telah mengarah pada penerapan zat pewarna alami dalam pakaian, makanan, minuman, produk, kecantikan, kesehatan dan kebugaran serta produk obat-obatan yang berada di pasar Amerika Utara dan beberapa negara lain di dunia (Abbate et al, 2023;Benucci et al, 2022). Meningkatnya perhatian publik terhadap pewarna alami dan adanya peraturan pemerintah yang ketat tentang lingkungan dan polusi mendorong penggunaan pewarna alami di pasar global (Oladzadabbasabadi et al, 2022;Renita et al, 2023).…”

An Overview of Ingredients Used for Plant-Based Meat Analogue Production and Their Influence on Structural and Textural Properties of the Final Product

“…The simulation of the color of cooked/roasted meat is achieved by using caramel colors (annatto or malt; carotene, cumin, turmin) [190] and beet root extracts [191], but also by adding reducing sugars (e.g., dextrose, maltose, lactose, xylose, galactose, mannose and arabinose). Reducing sugars can react with amine groups in proteins (Maillard reaction) [192,193]. In addition, color additives can also be used to impart a reddish-brown color.…”