Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods

Betalains are plant derived natural pigments that are presently gaining popularity for use as natural colorants in the food industry. The growing interest of consumers in the aesthetic, nutritional and safety aspects of food has increased the demand for natural pigments such as betalains to be used...

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Main Authors: Gengatharan, A., Dykes, Gary, Choo, W.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14357
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author Gengatharan, A.
Dykes, Gary
Choo, W.
author_facet Gengatharan, A.
Dykes, Gary
Choo, W.
author_sort Gengatharan, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Betalains are plant derived natural pigments that are presently gaining popularity for use as natural colorants in the food industry. The growing interest of consumers in the aesthetic, nutritional and safety aspects of food has increased the demand for natural pigments such as betalains to be used as alternative colorants in food products. Although betalains from red beetroot are one of the most widely used food colorant, betalains are not as well studied as compared to other natural pigments such as anthocyanins, carotenoids or chlorophylls. This paper reviews the pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-lipidemic and antimicrobial activity of betalains derived from sources such as red beetroot, amaranth, prickly pear and red pitahaya, for potential application as functional foods.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2015
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-143572017-09-13T14:05:40Z Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods Gengatharan, A. Dykes, Gary Choo, W. Betalains are plant derived natural pigments that are presently gaining popularity for use as natural colorants in the food industry. The growing interest of consumers in the aesthetic, nutritional and safety aspects of food has increased the demand for natural pigments such as betalains to be used as alternative colorants in food products. Although betalains from red beetroot are one of the most widely used food colorant, betalains are not as well studied as compared to other natural pigments such as anthocyanins, carotenoids or chlorophylls. This paper reviews the pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-lipidemic and antimicrobial activity of betalains derived from sources such as red beetroot, amaranth, prickly pear and red pitahaya, for potential application as functional foods. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14357 10.1016/j.lwt.2015.06.052 restricted
spellingShingle Gengatharan, A.
Dykes, Gary
Choo, W.
Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title_full Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title_fullStr Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title_full_unstemmed Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title_short Betalains: Natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
title_sort betalains: natural plant pigments with potential application in functional foods
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/14357