
In the food industry, synthetic antioxidants are added to foods containing fat, especially meats, with the purpose of delaying oxidative processes that result in undesirable sensorial changes, decreased shelf life and nutritional value and the formation of secondary compounds potentially harmful to health.


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E 162 by the European Union and under Section 73.40 in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) stipulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States ( Supplementary File-Figure S1A). Betalains are present in the tuberous part of beetroots, conferring its red-purple coloration.īetanin (betanidin 5- O-β- d-glucoside) is the most abundant betacyanin and the only one approved for use as a natural colorant in food products, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, under code EEC No. Moreover, beetroots are the main source of betalains, a heterocyclic compound and water-soluble nitrogen pigment, which can be subdivided into two classes according to their chemical structure: betacyanins, such as betanin, prebetanin, isobetanin and neobetanin, responsible for red-violet coloring, and betaxanthins, responsible for orange-yellow coloring, comprising vulgaxanthin I and II and indicaxanthin. Long-term supplementation by beetroot, a rich source of betanin, should be stimulated to protect organisms against oxidative stress.īeetroot ( Beta vulgaris L.) is a vegetable presenting significant scientific interest, mainly because it is a rich source of nitrate (NO 3 −), a compound with beneficial cardiovascular health effects, through the endogen production of nitric oxide (NO). Betanin should be considered a multi-functional molecule able to confer an attractive color to frozen or refrigerated foods, but with the capacity to avoid lipid oxidation, thereby preserving food quality. Betanin, besides displaying an inherent colorant capacity, was equally effective as a natural antioxidant displaying peroxy-radical scavenger ability in pork meat. Betanin high antioxidant ability was retained even after simulated small intestine digestion. Half of the betanin amount was recovered in the small intestine digestive fluid and no traces were found after colon fermentation. The stability and antioxidant ability of this compound were assessed during a human digestion simulation and ex vivo colon fermentation. Betanin showed significant stability up to −30 ☌ and mild stability at chilling temperature.

Herein, betanin was purified by semi-preparative HPLC-LC/MS and identified by LC-ESI(+)-MS/MS as the pseudomolecular ion m/ z 551.16. However, the antioxidant power and health-promoting properties of this pigment have been disregarded, perhaps due to the difficulty in obtaining a stable chemical compound, which impairs its absorption and metabolism evaluation.

Betanin is the only betalain approved for use in food and pharmaceutical products as a natural red colorant.
