Handbook on Natural Pigments in Food and Beverages

Reinhold Carle holds a chair in food technology and analysis with particular focus on natural colors (antho¬cyanins, betalains, carotenoids and chlorophylls). He has published > 280 peer reviewed papers in this field. According to the Thomson Reuters’ Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), he ranks among the world’s highly cited researchers in the field of agricultural sciences including nutrition (H-Index 45), and has been a member of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) CONTAM panel. He is an active member of the Commission on Food Additives of the BfR (Federal Institute of Risk Assessment) and holds a position as Distinguished Adjunct Professor at the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Due to his scientific achievements in food science and technology, he is an elected member of the Life Science Panel for Advanced Research Grants of the European Research Council (ERC) and has been awarded the designation of a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT, Chicago, USA). Ralf Schweiggert is the Head of the Institute of Beverage Research and Full Professor (W3) of the Chair of Plant Food Technology and Analysis of Geisenheim University. The main research interests of his workgroup are plant pigments, e.g., the elucidation of their structure, their stabilization for food applications, their antioxidant activity, and their bioavailability in humans. He has conducted several research stays at the Universidad de Costa Rica and the Ohio State University. His research and Ph.D. thesis was awarded the Baumann-Gonser-Research Award, the research award of the German Association for Quality Research, and the Professor Wild Award of the University of Hohenheim.

Part I: Consumer expectations and legal framework of food colorants 1. Safety, quality, and regulatory requirements for colouring food 2. Psychological effects of food colours 3. Regional differences of consumer expectations Part II: Specific industrial applications of natural colorants 4. Colouring of aqueous food products 5. Improvement and stabilization of wine colour 6. Colouring of lipid-rich products 7. Colouring of low-moisture and gelatinized food products 8. Application of natural colorants in frozen foods 9. Application of natural colorants in dairy products 10. Applications for natural colorants in meat products 11. Coloration of cereal-based products 12. Feed additives for influencing meat, fish, and egg yolk colour – applications and consumer expectations Part III: Recent developments and future perspectives 13. Recent insights into health benefits of natural pigments 14. Underutilized fruits and vegetables as potential novel pigment sources 15. Potential natural pigments of microbial origin 16. Natural solutions for blue colours in food 17. The "carmine problem" and potential alternatives 18. Improving colour sources by plant breeding