Betanin: A Food Colorant with Biological Activity

Betanin is a natural pigment with antioxidant properties used as a food colourant. This work describes the biological activity of betanin, betacyanins and betalains with termal treatment.Foodgrade beetroot powder has the largest amount of violet-red impurities, probably formed during processing. The purification of betanin from these complex matrices was carried out by several different methods. Ion exchange chromatography was the most efficient method for the purification of betanin from all samples; however, fractions contain high amounts of salt. Reversed-phase HPLC as well as reversed-phase column chromatography also produced good results at a much faster rate

Keywords:

Betanin , pigment , antioxidant