Applications of natural ingredients in savoury food products - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 287

Table 13.5 Natural colours

Natural occurrences Colour E number Pigment Comment

Turmeric Yellow E100 Curcumin Generally stable

Eggs, milk, yeast,
cheese

Yellow E101 Ribofl avin Unstable in light

Cochineal Red E120 Carminic acid Generally stable

Green plants (e.g.
nettles, parsley,
spinach)

Green E140,

E141

Chlorophyll and
chloraphyllins

Unstable in light

Caramels or
mellanoids

Brown E150 Melanoidins Stable - only

E150a is
considered natural

Carrots, oranges,
red pepper, saffron,
tomato, annatto,
eggs, marigolds

Yellow,
orange, red

E160,
E161

Carotenoids:
E160a carotenes
E160b bixin,
norbixin
E160c capsanthin/
capsorubin
E160d lycopene
E160e apocarotenal
E160f apocarotenal
ethyl ester
E161b lutein
E161g canthaxanthin

Generally unstable
in air and in light
and to pH. Annatto
probably most
stable generally but
uses are legally
restricted

Beetroot Red E162 E162 betanin Unstable to heat,

turning brown

Blackcurrant, black
grapes, red cabbage,
cherries, elderberries,
strawberries

Red to blue E163 E163 anthocyanins Unstable in air and

light, and
to pH

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿

Antioxidants
The most commonly used antioxidants in meat products are ascorbic acid
(vitamin C), sodium ascorbate (its sodium salt) and a combination of tocopherol
(vitamin E) and ascorbyl palmitate (vitamin C ester). This area has been the
subject of much debate in recent years as those antioxidants with an E number,
whether derived naturally or not, have been under scrutiny and purely naturally
sourced botanical ingredients are now much more to the forefront.
It has long been known that plants that have high phenol content such
as rosemary, cloves, cinnamon and oregano demonstrate antioxidant and
antimicrobial properties as discussed by Peter (2004). It is rosemary that has
become now accepted as the most potent natural antioxidant that is commercially
available due to its high carnosic acid and carnosol contents as well as its water-
soluble component, rosemarinic acid. All three components provide protection
against oxidation and rancidity. Rosemary extract is available in both solvent