Influence of Selected Factors on Anthocyanin Stability in Colored Potato Extracts

• Published in: Journal of food processing and preservation Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 1020 - 1026
• Main Authors: Tierno, Roberto, Ruiz de Galarreta, Jose I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2016
• Subjects: Anthocyanins; Color; Degradation; Food processing; Foods; Gallic acid; Potatoes; Solanum tuberosum; Stability
• ISSN: 0145-8892; 1745-4549
• DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.12682

Color is considered as an important quality trait of food products. The blue, purple or red colors of several fruits and vegetables are due to the presence of anthocyanins. Scientific evidence suggests that these pigments are health‐promoting compounds and there is some research focused on the development of anthocyanin‐based natural colorants. However, anthocyanins levels can be altered through the action of several factors during food processing and storage. In this study, prevention of degradation of anthocyanins in potato extracts through combining the addition of gallic acid as copigment and the presence or absence of light with different temperatures was investigated. The four studied factors were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01), but genotype showed the major effect, followed by light, temperature and gallic acid addition. The stability of anthocyanins can be increased throughout the combination of low temperature (T = 4C), absence of light and gallic acid addition (pigment : copigment molar ratio 1:50). Practical Applications Besides having important biological roles, such as antioxidant activity, anti‐inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties, anthocyanin‐rich plant extracts might have potential as food colorants. In fact, colored potatoes have been suggested to be a great source of anthocyanins and a potential source of natural colorants. The major problem of anthocyanin‐based natural colorants is their instability under nonacidic normal processing and storage conditions. With the aim of preventing the degradation of anthocyanins to colorless phenolics and insoluble brown compounds, there have been several studies conducted through the addition of different additives. In the present study, the stability effect of gallic acid as a copigment was investigated in different conditions, considering two important factors that influence the preservation of anthocyanins (temperature and light) in purple and red‐fleshed potato extracts. Our results contribute to the development of preparation processes of food products and colorants derived from colored potatoes with increased anthocyanin content and color intensity.