QUANTITIVE DETERMINATION OF COCHINEAL EXTRACT (Adctylopius coccus),CARMINE,CARMINIC ACID AND 4-AMINOCARMINIC ACID ( E120) IN SOME FOOD- STUFFS.

Abstract

Carmines and carminic acid are red food colors (E 120) can be classified as natural colors; obtained from alcoholic extracts of cochineal, which consists since they are of dried bodies of the female insect D. coccus costa. In the present investigation a detection of carmine, carminic acid and 4aminocarminic acid in the studied samples of red colored beverages containing E120 as ingredient or in unlabeled samples has been used. The study has been applied for the analysis of around 140 food and beverages samples in red colored beverages classified in more than 25 categories; containing or May containing E120 as ingredient. There were around 29.5% unlabeled of the total samples. The ratio of detected samples were 55.4% from the total examined samples given 77 samples contained carmine , carminic acid and 4-aminocarminic acid. 13% of the detected samples contained 4-aminocarminic acid. Results of this study proved and revealed alarming illegal presence of 4aminocarminic acid in E120-labelled colorants. A mislabeling are documented from many commercial products, and varied widely in dye content. Carmine , carminic acid and 4-aminocarminic acid were not detected in cocoa ,coffee processed cheese, chocolate , canned fruits and vegetables products; but presented in 54.5% and 32.5% of the studied samples respectively, Also 60% of the labeled investigated samples no mention of the adding of these dyes .They use only sentence "Natural colors added" or "No artificial colors "and on the rest of labeled samples 40% it was mentioned on label ether E120,cochinela extract or carmines without any mention for levels of adding. Half samples of the fresh juices were contained the different types of dyes. The highest value of carminic acid detected was found in one fresh juice sample giving 3670 ppm.In one sample of flavored tea the carmine was detected in level 35 ppm. Dye concentration in 4 samples of seasoning salad dressing was 43ppm and 182 ppm for carmine and carminic acid, respectively and no 4-aminocarminic acid was detected. The fish products category include red colored the level of detected carmines was ranged from 16-290 ppm in two caviar samples, however, no dye detected in salmon. In seven meat products samples include minced meat, burger, and sausages four samples contained carminic acid level ranged from 98 to 1020 ppm while one sample contained 67 ppm carmine. In flavored dairy products and soya milk, it was found that one sample of soya milk contained 18 ppm as carmine .While the carminic acid was ranged from 26 to 1020 ppm on the other samples include yoghurt and processed milk. In one sample of three soup powder samples carmine dye was detected in level of 21 mg/kg. The value of carminic acid in one concentrated syrup sample was 1440 ppm. However, in four of seven samples confectionery products collected from bakery and dessert stores was ranged from 39 to 900 ppm for carminic acid and from 1400 to 1087 ppm for carmine. The highest level of carmine detected in cake sample was 2070 ppm; followed by the value of 1810...