Research Projects

Rationale of Work: Synthetic food colors, though widely used in the food industry, have serious concerns for their adverse health effects, including hyperactivity in children, allergic responses, liver toxicity and carcinogenicity. Natural food colorants derived from plant, fruit, and microbial sources are gaining considerable interest. Among the natural colors, blue is one of the rarest and most challenging color to obtain in a "stable form". Clitoria ternatea (Shankhpushpi/Butterfly Pea flower) is widely recognized for its blue petals, due to the presence of anthocyanin pigments. Shankhpushpi is promising natural blue food colorant in traditional herbal teas. However, challenges lies in the extraction efficiency, pigment stability & practical incorporation into food systems. This project aims to develop a sustainable optimized extraction process with high pigment stability & its applicability in food products for their commercial viability; Market Scenario: Many food processers have started to remove synthetic food colors from their products and but still lacks the safer or natural alternatives. In fact, recently two of the food major giants-General Mills and Kraft Heinz have aimed to eliminate the synthetic (FD&C) food dyes. In case of Indian market too, focus is to rule out the synthetic food colors: 1.Haldiram's and PepsiCo India (gradual phasing out of synthetic colors) 2.Central and State Govt. Agencies (Banned use of Rhodamine B, Tartrazine, the hazardous synthetic colors in roadside foods and sweets) 3.Tata's Ching’s: Got alert on health risks associated with fake colors (Schezwan sauce, snacks, noodles, soups) The aim is to remove synthetic colors from these products in next 5 years. With this aim, we target to replace the use of synthetic colors like Brilliant blue (Blue 1) with technology development of natural colors; Problem Statement: • Health risks associated with synthetic food colors • Lack of safe and stable natural Blue hues in market • Limited optimized extraction, stabilization, and food application studies; Scientific Objectives: • To optimize extraction conditions for maximum yield of blue anthocyanins from Shankhpushpi fower. • To enhance pigment stability using pomegranate peel waste. • To evaluate the natural colorant’s performance and stability in selected food products; Hypothesis: Optimized extraction and natural stabilization will improve the yield and stability of blue anthocyanins from Shankhpushpi flower, making them suitable as natural food colorants; Main Experiments: Optimization of green extraction parameters (solvent ratio, temp., technique, time) to enhance anthocyanin yield while minimizing degradation, Equally important is the stability enhancement to ensure its practical applicability in food systems; Significance: 1. Safe & natural alternative to synthetic blue colors 2. Adds value to horticultural flowers and fruit waste 3. Gives the food industry a stable functional natural colorant.