Keeping bright juices bright

By Jeff Gelski

reprinted with permission from Food Business News page 27

January 2009 - Red cabbage juice and purple sweet potato juice perform best as colors in beverages with pH measures between 2.5 to 4.5, said Jody Renner-Nantz, a food science chemist with D. D. Williamson, Louisville, Ky.  They may stay red longer and give more of an impression of a berry flavor.  Purple sweet potato juice may provide a vibrant pink color up to one month after application she said.

Vegetable-based anthocyanins tend to provide a more stable color in beverages than other fruit and vegetable sources, she said.  Anthocyanins are soluble glycosides that produce colors in flowers and plants. Still, formulators may need to compensate for color loss when switching to naturally-derived colors from synthetic colors in beverages, Ms. Renner-Nantz said.  They may use a higher dosage of naturally-derived color, or they could put the beverage in translucent packaging, thus prolonging the life of the anthocyanins.