Ficus carica L. and Prunus spinosa L. extracts as new anthocyanin-based food colorants: A thorough study in confectionery products

Abstract

The present work describes the evaluation of fig peels and blackthorn fruit extracts as natural purple colorants in doughnuts (icing) and in a typical Brazilian pastry called "beijinho". The extracts were screened for their antioxidant activity as well as their antibacterial capacity. Nutritionally, the employed extracts did not induce significant changes, contrarily to the observed for the rheological features, mainly the darker purple tone observed when blackthorn extract was used in the icing solution. After 24 h, both prepared formulations showed a decrease in color intensity, with no significant differences between fig and blackthorn extracts. In turn, the firmness and consistency of the doughnuts benefited from using natural colorants in the icing solution, while "beijinhos" became softer and chewier, which are valued attributes. A significant increase in the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities was also observed for both natural extracts. Accordingly, the evaluated extracts are promising candidates as natural food colorants.

Study on changes in pigment composition during the blooming period of safflower based on plant metabolomics and semi‐quantitative analysis

“…Undoubtedly, pigments in safflower, like hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), are widely used in coloring juice, jelly, and candy [3]. Carthamin, a natural red pigment obtained from safflower [4], was originally used for cosmetic, textile dyeing, printing, and colored chocolate [5, 6].…”

Anthocyanins Recovered from Agri-Food By-Products Using Innovative Processes: Trends, Challenges, and Perspectives for Their Application in Food Systems

“…Nevertheless, it was noted that increasing microwave powers (340–680 W) and irradiation times superior to 9.86 min harmed anthocyanin recovery [ 39 ]. Doulabi et al [ 40 ] and Backes et al [ 136 ] noticed that the longer the irradiation time, the lower the anthocyanin recovery from eggplant peel and fig peel, respectively. Likewise, excessively long irradiation times beyond optimal point can also result in a reduction in the anthocyanin extraction from grape pomace [ 124 , 125 ], blueberry peel [ 121 ], blackcurrant bagasse [ 51 ], black rice bran [ 45 ], black carrot pomace [ 39 ], and corn husk [ 43 ].…”

Sustainable Recovery of Preservative and Bioactive Compounds from Food Industry Bioresidues

“…The beneficial health effects exhibited by these compounds are due to their ability to modulate metabolic processes, such as antioxidant activity, enzyme inhibition or induction, inhibition of receptor activities, and induction and inhibition of gene expression [ 36 ]. In fact, the antioxidant activity is often highlighted among their functions [ 41 , 42 , 43 ], once they protect the body’s cells against oxidative damage, reducing the oxidative stress and preventing cancer, arteriosclerosis, and aging processes. These properties have been reported as highly suitable for preservative, fortifier, and stabilizer additives development [ 36 ].…”