Raw Materials Used in Food Colorants

Raw Materials Used in Food Colorants The food sector is gaining momentum every day in our country and around the world, and this field is taking on entirely new dimensions both in gastronomy and in products such as packaged food, beverages, and confectionery. Throughout history, each culture has colored its food and beverages by using different techniques and raw materials in its own cuisine. While some colorants add value to the taste of the product, others are aimed solely at strengthening the product color or enhancing its appeal by giving the product different colors. Substances that give color to food and beverages or enhance their color are called food colorants or colorants. The International Food Codex Commission defines colorants as "substances added to regulate or impart color to food." Many substances with coloring properties have different physical, chemical, and physicochemical properties due to differences in their chemical structure, and these properties determine in what types of products and for what purposes they will be used. Considering the development of food production technologies and the changing needs of consumers, numerous formulations have been applied to ensure that products do not lose their vitality and maintain their original color during processing, storage, and sale. Food manufacturers have therefore turned to using coloring additives for purposes such as preserving the original color of food, ensuring color uniformity of the product, increasing its appeal, and imparting color to colorless or lightly colored foods (confectionery, beverages, gels used in pastries, biscuits, etc.). Particularly in pastry-making, we can see that not only taste but also appearance is very important. We are even aware of cakes that are made as purely artistic productions with interesting and magnificent appearances. In gastronomy, taste—which is certainly a very important criterion—is no longer considered sufficient on its own by the consumer, and the combination of aesthetics and taste is now valued. At this point, coloring substances are broadly divided into two categories based on their sources: natural colorants and synthetic colorants. While colorants can be obtained from vegetables and fruits at home, the coloring raw materials used in industrial settings are different. In a home setting, it is possible to obtain natural colorants in simple ways from products such as sugar beet, carrot, red cabbage, spinach, blueberry, and saffron in our kitchens. In addition to natural colorants, synthetic colorants are also available and their production is ensured in water- and oil-soluble formulations under industrial conditions. As these colorants enter the areas of use of food manufacturers, the end consumer can also access them and easily use them in their products. These types of colorants, supplied in powder and liquid form, are quite concentrated and strong. For this reason, a considerable amount of food material can be colored with just a few drops of colorant. Similarly, colorants in powder form are strong materials in this way.

Prepared by: Dila Taşcı