Analysis of Physico-Chemical Properties of Natural Food Colours from Fruits and Vegetables

Color becomes the most sensitive part of any commodity not only for its appeal but also it enhances consumer acceptability. The demand for natural colours is increasing day by day because of awareness of positive health benefit out of natural compounds (Chattopadhyay et al., 2008). The organic colour stuffs are obtained from roots, stems, leaves, barks, flowers and berries of various plants and from certain insects and shellfish. The inorganic pigments are insoluble salts which are precipitated (Paul et al., 1996). There is a worldwide trend towards the use of natural additives and food colourant in food applications (Ghorpade et al., 1995). Nanotechnology describes materials, devices and systems with structures and components exhibiting new and significantly improved physical, chemical and biological properties as well as the phenomena and processes enabled by the ability to control properties at nanoscale (Miyazaki and Islam, 2007).