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The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the consumers’ perception of natural and artificial food colourants. Furthermore, attitudes towards the application of carmine, being technically important and ubiquitously used to impart red shades, are assessed and analysed. Originating from insects, carmine is considered as natural but may arouse disgust.

In total, 625 individuals were surveyed using an online, self-administered questionnaire to represent a broad cross-section of the German population.

Independent of their origin, the application of colourants was rejected by 57.0 per cent of the interviewees. In total, 31.8 per cent of the participants stated a neutral attitude, while only 11.2 per cent expressed a positive notion. Most respondents preferred colourants from natural sources to artificial ones. While consumers perceive natural food colourants composed of genuine plant pigments positively, 61.6 per cent of respondents disliked the application of animal-derived colourants, 24.8 per cent of them did neither reject nor like it, and only 13.6 per cent of the interviewees stated a positive attitude towards them. The findings of this paper further indicate consumers’ preference for colourants to be either artificial or plant-derived rather than carmine. Food colourants are being rejected, possibly due to misleading information and confusing labelling. Consequently, information about carmine, including its origin and production, did not increase the aversion to products that are dyed with it, but increased their acceptance.

This study outlines consumer perception and attitudes towards food colourants. For the first time, the findings of this paper report the effect of revealing information about an additive, which initially aroused disgust, and its influence on consumer perception.

An upsurge in health and environmental concerns over the use of synthetic color has made the development of color from cheap and easily available natural sources, namely, plants, animals, micro-organisms and algae as indispensable. This study aims to extract anthocyanins, an important natural plant pigments, from Sohiong (Prunus nepalensis). This study demonstrated that Sohiong have high anthocyanins content and antioxidant property, indicating an immense potential for the fruit producers and food processors.

Response surface methodology was used to optimize the conditions for extraction of anthocyanins from Sohiong using conventional solvent extraction.

The optimum conditions for extraction were found to be 36.75°C temperature, 60.32 per cent ethanol concentration and 2.39 per cent citric acid concentration with recovery of 45 per cent total extract yield, 858.84 mg C3G/100g DM anthocyanin content and 824.91 mg GAE/100g DM phenolic content with in-vitro antioxidant activity of 31.40 mmol AEAC/100g DM for FRAP and 84.66 per cent DPPH scavenging capacity (20mg/ml). The F-values and high values of adjusted determination coefficient for each response imply high level of significance of the fitted models.

Extracted color can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Pigment extracted is from a natural source and possesses high antioxidative activity and potential health benefits. With increasing demand for natural colors and other additives, there is a wide range of applications of the pigment as natural colorant in the food and pharmaceutical sector.

Selected plant source, i.e. Sohiong, was not used earlier by any researcher to extract anthocyanins for potential applications as food colorant.

Human health is strongly affected by diet. By the increased use of food industries products, public knowledge about health factors and side effects of chemical additives, the concepts of human health founded an important aspect during past years, and application of natural-based ingredients such as coloring, flavoring, texturizing and anti-oxidative agents was increased.

The aim of the present paper is to review the published scientific research studies about lycopene health benefits in different human disease or disorders and bold the necessity of study the health effects of lycopene after its formulation in food industrial products. About 190 papers were searched in Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science databases and 72 relevant papers were used. It was found that in medical studies, the lycopene oleoresin or powder is used directly to the subjects. However, it is necessary to study the effectiveness of lycopene in diet food products.

According to the literature, it has beneficial effects on cancers, glands, reproductive system, bone, gastric system, liver and fat reduction in the body. Also, it was concluded from the literature that lycopene oxidative cleavages make also its chemo protective effects which is a lost key element to study different food processing on lycopene products or its isomers in final food products and on human health.

Many ingredients in food formulations are substituted by natural products. Lycopene is a colorant but also, according to the literature, has a strong antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effect to reduce the risk of most important human disease and disorders. Future research in food science can emphasize the effect of different unit operations or formulations on lycopene effects on human health.

Biopigments, natural colors from microbiological origin are of great interest because of their potential advantages over synthetic colorants. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the best possible fermentative conditions for the maximum production of biopigment using solid state fermentation and submerged fermentation by Monascus purpureus MTCC 369.

The biopigment was produced using solid state fermentation and submerged with optimized substrate to achieve higher yield. The statistical analysis was carried out using a Microsoft Excel ® (Microsoft Corporation).

On comparative analysis, it was observed that solid state fermentation resulted significant accumulation of biopigment (9.0 CVU/g) on the 9th day in comparison to submerged fermentation (5.1 CVU/g) on the 15th day.

Results revealed that sweet potato peel powder and pea pods provides necessary nutrients required for mycelial growth, and biopigment production, therefore, can be used as potent substrate for biopigment production by Monascus purpureus MTCC 369. Extracted color can be used in confectionery, beverages and pharmaceutical industries.

This work focuses on utilisation of waste for production of pigment as alternative source to synthetic colorant, and few studies have been carried out using wastes, but no work has been carried out on sweet potato peel to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pattern of carotenoids distribution in three underutilized Malaysian ‘ulam’ or traditional vegetables in Malaysia (Averrhoa carambola, Manihot esculenta and Ipomoea batatas) and their valuable pro-vitamin A activities. These assessments will yield valuable knowledge and insight into the importance of these underutilized traditional vegetables and highlight their potential for applications in medicinal and functional colorant industries.

In this study, the authors have evaluated the distribution of carotenoid compounds in aerial organs of three underutilized traditional vegetables (Averrhoa carambola, Manihot esculenta and Ipomoea batatas). The content of the individual carotenoids were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the organ with the highest accumulation of these compounds were identified. Their valuable pro-vitamin A activities were also reported to indicate their medicinal potential which can further be exploited as pharmacologically active natural colorants and in other applications.

In total, three major chromatographic peaks corresponding to lutein, violaxanthin and β-carotene were observed through HPLC. Among the compounds detected, lutein and β-carotene were the most abundant carotenoids found in both shoots and petioles of all three species. Violaxanthin was only detected in I. batatas shoots. Overall, carotenoid content was observed to be higher in the shoots than in the petioles, where I. batatas contained the highest amount of total carotenoid, followed by M. esculenta and A. carambola. The opposite trend was observed in the petioles, where A. carambola petioles had the highest carotenoid content, while I. batatas contained the least.

The distribution and abundance of these individual carotenoids suggested that the petioles contained the highest amount of carotenoid, contributing to its high pro-vitamin A activity, and could be potentially useful for medicinal application, as it can act as storage site that is not as prone to natural drying or degradation during harvest and sample storage. Future research work should include improvements in the extraction and purification procedures as well as robust identification methods which may lead to better detection and identification of other compounds that could attribute to its bioactivity, to complement the findings of the current study.

This analysis provides valuable information on the importance of underutilized traditional vegetables as important biofactories for sustainable production of valuable pigments (such as carotenoids) with medicinal benefits and can further be exploited in various industries, such as in formulation of functional natural colorants. This study also highlights the importance of petiole as a storage site of pharmacologically active compounds that is not as prone to natural drying or degradation during harvest and sample storage.

To date, there is no previous report found on comparative analysis of carotenoid content and quantification of individual carotenoid concentration in the edible aerial parts of Averrhoa carambola, Manihot esculenta and Ipomoea batatas, although they have been traditionally consumed as “ulam” in Malaysia. Therefore, the results reported in this study provide new insights on carotenoid accumulation in the selected ‘ulam’ species.

Food additives are a group of substances added deliberately to foods to improve their organoleptic properties and stability, extend their shelf life and retain their nutritional value. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most frequently used classes of food additives and the food categories which contain the highest number of classes of additives.

A market survey was carried out in hypermarkets and shops where the original labels of 629 food products (195 local and 434 imported) were examined for presence of food additives. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore the association between food category and classes of additives, and a χ² test was performed to establish any association between product origin and the number of classes of food additives.

In sum, 75 per cent of food samples surveyed contained at least one class of food additive. The food categories which contained the highest number of classes of food additives across the group were: snacks (12 classes), biscuits and cakes (11 classes), fish products (11 classes) and soft drinks (10 classes). The most common classes of additive used were acidity regulator, colour and preservative. χ² test revealed a significant association (χ² = 8.28, p < 0.05) between the origin and number of classes of food additives, and the PCA showed that biscuits were associated with raising agent, candies and snacks with colour, fruit drinks and soft drinks with acidity regulator, mayonnaise with thickener and meat products with preservative.

The food products were sourced only from retailers selling labelled food products.

This novel study provides a basis for determining compliance of food products to the National Food Regulations.

Enzymes present in raw food materials can play a key role in processing. Biotechnology can be used to manipulate and employ enzymes in food production. Presents several case studies, including the production of chymosin by a genetically engineered micro‐organism for use in the manufacture of cheese, which illustrate the potential for applying biotechnology in this field of activity.

Internal fluffy portion along with fibrous strands of ripe pumpkin is considered as waste in processing industries though it contains sufficient amount of ß-carotene pigment. The purpose of this paper is to use the leftover fluffy portion of ripe pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) after the use of its flesh for the purpose of processing.

The data were analyzed statistically by following a complete randomized design (CRD). All analysis were performed using the software OPSTAT.

One hour pre-enzymatic treatment before solvent extraction showed significant improvement in extraction yield in comparison to the isolation of ß-carotene pigment through solvent only. Temperature time combination was optimized as 40°C for 2 h during solvent extraction to obtain maximum yield irrespective of the type of extraction method used.

Extracted carotene pigment can further be used as a natural food colorant in processed food products not only to enhance the color appeal but also it improves the nutritional value of the product as ß-carotene acts as a precursor of vitamin A.

Coloring agents of natural origin are becoming famous among society due to their health benefits. Consumers are becoming reluctant to use synthetic colors because of the undesirable allergic reactions caused by them, so carotene bio-pigment produced is a natural coloring compound with wide application in the food sector.

Even though few researchers have worked on the extraction of carotene pigment from pumpkin, but no researcher has reported the use of a waste fluffy portion of C. maxima for extraction of ß-carotene pigment.

This paper aims to study the color change kinetics of lac dye in response to pH and food spoilage metabolites (ammonia, lactic acid and tyramine) for its potential application in intelligent food packaging.

UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to study the color change of dye solution. Ratio of absorbance of dye solution at 528 nm (peak of ionized form) to absorbance at 488 nm (peak of unionized form) was used to study the color change. Color change kinetics was studied in terms of change in absorbance ratio (A528/A488) with time using zero- and first-order reaction kinetics. An indicator was prepared by incorporating lac dye in agarose membrane to validate the result of study for monitoring quality of raw milk.

Dye was orange-red in acidic medium (pH: 2 to 5) and exhibited absorbance peak at 488 nm. It turned purple in alkaline medium (pH: 7 to10) and exhibited absorbance peak at 528 nm. The change in absorbance ratio with pH followed zero-order model. Acid dissociation constant (pKa) of dye was found to be 6.3. Color change of dye in response to ammonia and tyramine followed zero-order reaction kinetics, whereas for lactic acid, the first-order model was found best. In the validation part, the color of the indicator label changed from purple to orange-red when the milk gets spoiled.

The study opens a new application area for lac dye. The results suggest that lac dye has potential to be used as an indicator in intelligent food packaging for detection of spoilage in seafood, meat, poultry and milk.

The purpose of this paper was to study the color change kinetics of lac dye in response to aldehydes, carbon dioxide and other food spoilage metabolites for its potential application in intelligent food packaging.

UV–Vis spectroscopy was used to study the color change of dye solution. Ratio of absorbance of dye solution at 528 nm (peak of ionized form) to absorbance at 488 nm (peak of unionized form) was used to study the color change. Color change kinetics was studied in terms of change in absorbance ratio (A₅₂₈/A₄₈₈) with time using zero and first-order reaction kinetics. Lac dye-based indicator was prepared to validate the result of study for monitoring quality of strawberries.

Lac dye was orange-red in acidic medium and purple in alkaline medium. Color change of dye in response to benzaldehyde followed zero-order reaction kinetics, whereas for carbon dioxide first-order model was found best. No color change of dye solution was observed for alcohols, ketones and sulfur compounds. In the validation part, the color of the indicator label changed from purple to orange when the strawberries spoiled.

The study expands application area for lac dye as sensing reagent in intelligent food packaging for spoilage or ripeness detection of fruits and vegetables.