The Realm of Microbial Pigments in the Food Color Market

Abstract

Colors are added to food items to make them more attractive and appealing. Food colorants therefore, have an impressive market due to the requirements of food industries. A variety of synthetic coloring agents approved as food additives are available and being used in different types of food prepared or manufactured worldwide. However, there is a growing concern that the use of synthetic colors may exert a negative impact on human health and environment in the long run. The natural pigments obtained from animals, plants, and microorganisms are a promising alternative to synthetic food colorants. Compared to animal and plant sources, microorganisms offer many advantages such as no seasonal impact on the quality and quantity of the pigment, ease of handling and genetic manipulation, amenability to large scale production with little or no impact on biodiversity etc. Among the microorganisms algae, fungi and bacteria are being used to produce pigments as food colorants. This review describes the types of microbial food pigments in use, their benefits, production strategies, and associated challenges.

Melanin: Production from Cheese Bacteria, Chemical Characterization, and Biological Activities

“…have been isolated from the rind of brownish cheese in several environments, producing interesting extracellular molecules, such as enzymes [2] and biopigments [3]. Pigment production from biological non-pathogenic agents, such as those found in some food commodities, has attracted increased interests in recent years [3,4]. Nature produces many biopigments from various resources, including microorganisms, which are possible alternatives to synthetic dyes and pigments currently employed [5,6].…”

“…4 272.09 (20%); 165.05 (27%); 147.04 (15%); 138.03 (11%); 123.04 (29%) 4 272.09 (20%); 165.05 (27%); 147.04 (15%); 138.03 (11%); 123.04 (29%) 4 272.09 (20%); 165.05 (27%); 147.04 (15%); 138.03 (11%); 123.04 (29%)…”

Colorful Treasure From Agro-Industrial Wastes: A Sustainable Chassis for Microbial Pigment Production

“…The molecules capable of bestowing color, owing to their ability to absorb light in the visible range are referred as pigments. Nevertheless, by chemical definitions, pigments are insoluble colored substances while colorants are soluble colored substances ( Rana et al, 2021 ). By 2027, the market value of dyes and pigments is expected to reach 33.2–49.1 billion dollars ( Chatragadda and Dufossé, 2021 ).…”

Evaluation Study on Extraction of Anthocyanins from Red Cabbage Using High Pressure CO2 + H2O: A Fuzzy Logic Model and Metabolomic Analysis

“…The fatal disadvantage of synthetic colorant is its toxicity to humans [3]; previous studies have found that even if the intake dose of some colorants is low, long-term intake still carries a risk of teratogenicity, carcinogenesis and genotoxicityon in the human population [4,5]. Currently, natural colorants obtained from various animals and plants are being discussed and explored for their physiological activities to alleviate harm caused by synthetic colorants [6,7].…”