Betanin, or Beetroot Red, is a red

glycosidic A glycosidic bond or glycosidic linkage is a type of covalent bond that joins a carbohydrate (sugar) molecule to another group, which may or may not be another carbohydrate. A glycosidic bond is formed between the hemiacetal or hemiketal group ...

food dye Food coloring, or color additive, is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or drink. They come in many forms consisting of liquids, powders, gels, and pastes. Food coloring is used in both commercial food ...

obtained from

beet The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...

s; its

aglycone An aglycone (aglycon or genin) is the compound remaining after the glycosyl group on a glycoside is replaced by a hydrogen atom. For example, the aglycone of a cardiac glycoside would be a steroid molecule. Detection A way to identify aglycone ...

, obtained by hydrolyzing away the

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...

molecule, is betanidin. As a food additive, its E number is E162. The color of betanin depends on pH; between four and five it is bright bluish-red, becoming blue-violet as the pH increases. Once the pH reaches alkaline levels betanin degrades by

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolys ...

, resulting in a yellow-brown color. Betanin is a

betalain Betalains are a class of red and yellow tyrosine-derived pigments found in plants of the order Caryophyllales, where they replace anthocyanin pigments. Betalains also occur in some higher order fungi. They are most often noticeable in the petals ...

pigment, together with isobetanin, probetanin, and neobetanin. Other pigments contained in beet are

indicaxanthin Indicaxanthin is a type of betaxanthin, a plant pigment present in beets, in ''Mirabilis jalapa'' flowers, in cacti such as prickly pears (''Opuntia sp.'') or the red dragonfruit ('' Hylocereus costaricensis''). It is a powerful antioxidant. Med ...

and

vulgaxanthin Vulgaxanthins are a group of betaxanthins, or the predominant yellow plant pigments found in red beets, among other plants like ''Mirabilis jalapa'' and swiss chard. They are antioxidant pigments, types I, II, III, IV, and V. Like all betaxanth ...

Sources

Betanin is usually obtained from the extract of beet juice; the concentration of betanin in red beet can reach 300–600 mg/kg. Other dietary sources of betanin and other

s include the '' Opuntia'' cactus,

Swiss chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

, and the leaves of some strains of amaranth.

Uses

The most common uses of betanins are in coloring

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

and powdered soft drink beverages; other uses are in some sugar confectionery, e.g. fondants, sugar strands, sugar coatings, and fruit or cream fillings. In hot processed candies, it can be used if added at the final part of the processing. Betanin is also used in soups as well as

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

and bacon products. Betanin has "not been implicated as causing clinical food allergy when used as a coloring agent".Dean D. Metcalfe, Hugh A. Sampson, Ronald A. Simon: ''Food Allergy: Adverse Reactions to Foods and Food Additives.'' 4th Ed., Blackwell Publishing, 2009, , p. 416. Betanin can be also used for coloring meat and

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

s. Betanin has also shown to have antimicrobial activity and can be used as a natural antimicrobial agent in food preservation.

Degradation and stability

Betanin degrades when subjected to

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

, heat, and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

; therefore, it is used in frozen products, products with short shelf life, or products sold in dry state. Betanin can survive pasteurization when in products with high sugar content. Its sensitivity to oxygen is highest in products with a high water content and/or containing metal cations (e.g.

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

); antioxidants like ascorbic acid and

sequestrant A sequestrant is a food additive which improves the quality and stability of foods. A sequestrant forms chelate complexes with polyvalent metal ions, especially copper, iron and nickel, which can prevent the oxidation of the fats in the food. Se ...

s can slow this process down, together with suitable packaging. In dry form betanin is stable in the presence of oxygen.

Sources

Uses

Degradation and stability

See also

References

Further reading