Abstract
The betacyanin pigments from 21 genotypes of 7 Amaranthus species were separated by gel filtration chromatography and HPLC. On the basis of their IR and UV-visible spectra, enzymatic hydrolysis, and Chromatographic profiles, the pigments were identified as homogeneous betacyanins, which consisted on average of 80.9% amaranthine and 19.2% isoamaranthine. Dried crude betacyanin extracts contained 23.2-31.7% protein, and the purified sample retained 12.8% protein. The betacyanins were difficult to separate from protein. Total betacyanins in the Amaranthus species ranged from 46.1 to 199 mg/100 g of fresh plant material and from 15.4 to 46.9 mg/g of dry extracts. The mean extraction rate of the eight best genotypes was 2.18%. Amaranthus cultivated species contained much more betacyanin than wild species and had much higher biomass, indicating that~ certain cultivated genotypes had greater potential for commercial development as natural colorant sources. Dried extracts from Amaranthus species may form natural nutritive pigments for the food industry.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2063-2070 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Amaranthine
- Amaranthus
- Betacyanins
- Colorants
- Isoamaranthine
- Pigments