After nearly two decades of research an international team claims to have found a naturally derived cyan blue colour extracted from red cabbage that could replace synthetic blue dye often used in the food industry.
After nearly two decades of research an international team claims to have found a naturally derived cyan blue colour extracted from red cabbage that could replace synthetic blue dye often used in the food industry.
Scientists at the University of California, Davis say they have developed a naturally derived cyan blue colorant made from anthocyanin pigments – the pigments that give red, purple, and blue plants their rich colouring – in red cabbage.
According to the researchers, the new colour – made using an enzyme to convert a range of anthocyanins to one with the ideal wavelength – remains highly stable over time and may also produce better green colours than those derived from existing natural blue colorants and in larger amounts.
New cyan blue could be an alternative to synthetic blue food colorings
Blue ice cream made with the new pigment.
April 15, 2021
A natural brilliant blue food coloring has been discovered by an international team of researchers including chemists at the University of California, Davis. Natural food colorings are in demand, and the new cyan blue, obtained from red cabbage, could be an alternative to synthetic blue food colorings such as the widely used FD&C Blue No. 1. The U.S. National Science Foundation-funded work is published in
The researchers have developed an enzyme to make the blue color in usable quantities. Blue colors are really quite rare in nature a lot of them are really reds and purples, said researcher Pamela Denish.
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Red cabbage could be the key to developing a natural cyan blue food coloring
Finding a natural cyan blue dye that is equivalent to FD&C Blue No. 1 has been a challenge for the entire industry and the subject of research programs around the world. Now, an international team of researchers has discovered a promising cyan blue dye that is obtained naturally from the pigments of red cabbage that, if proven to be safe for food use, will be the best natural alternative to the blue coloring of food.
The study was carried out with some of the red cabbage s water-soluble pigments, anthocyanins, which are mainly red and purple. In this type of cabbage, natural blue is only found in small amounts and it is too violet to replace the artificial coloring. For a decade, a team led by scientists from the Mars Advanced Research Institute and Mars Wrigley Science and Technology has worked in collaboration with the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health, Ohio State University, Nagoya Unive