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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #180294

Title: TRACKING COLOR AND PIGMENT CHANGES IN ANTHOCYANIN PRODUCTS

Author
item WROLSTAD, RONALD - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item DURST, ROBERT - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item Lee, Jungmin

Submitted to: Trends in Food Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/8/2005
Publication Date: 9/1/2005
Citation: Wrolstad, R., Durst, R., Lee, J. 2005. Tracking color and pigment changes in anthocyanin products. Trends in Food Science and Technology. 16(9):423-428.

Interpretive Summary: General information of anthocyanin pigments. Background information on current methods used for monitoring color and pigment changes in research and quality control.

Technical Abstract: Anthocyanin pigments readily degrade during processing and storage of foodstuffs, which can have a dramatic impact on color quality and may also affect nutritional properties. Total anthocyanin pigment content and indices for polymeric color and browning are easily measured with simple spectrophotometric methods. Once individual pigments are identified, their changes can be monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Modern color instrumentation has made measurement of CIEL*a*b* indices practical and easy. Indices of lightness (L*), Chroma (C), and hue angle (h) are particularly useful for tracking color change.