Los Colores Maravillosos de la Biodiversidad Peruana: Plantas Peruanas Selectas con Uso Para Colorantes de Alimentos

• Autores: Miyagusuku-Cruzado, Gonzalo, Voss, Danielle M., Del Carpio-Jiménez, Carla, Lao, Fei, Jing, Pu, Zhang, Kai, Zhou, Yucheng, Grouge, Sydney, Giusti, Monica, Giusti, Monica M.
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2022
• Institución: Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina
• Repositorio: Revistas - Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistas.lamolina.edu.pe:article/1888
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistas.lamolina.edu.pe/index.php/acu/article/view/1888
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: colores sorprendentes; biodiversidad; plantas peruanas; colorantes alimentarios; amazing colors; biodiversity; peruvian plants; foods colorants

The increasing consumer demand for more nutritious foods, naturally sourced ingredients, and cleaner labels is pushing the food and cosmetic industries to transition from the use of artificial colorants towards naturally sourced alternatives. In this context, the industry is continuously searching for sources of more stable colorants, with special interest in plant sources. The vibrant biodiversity found in Peru represents an exciting economic opportunity. In this review, we highlight select Peruvian crops with excellent potential for use as colorant sources for industrial applications, with some sources being extensively studied and others receiving attention in more recent years. Purple corn, a crop native to the Andes region, is a rich source of pigments with great stability and a long history of use in different applications around the world. Colored-fleshed potatoes, underutilized Andean crops, can express different colors due to their assorted pigment profiles. Sauco, the Peruvian elderberry, has strong antioxidant activity and a unique pigment profile that gives it its characteristic black-purple color. Berberis species, a diverse class of shrubs with highly-pigmented berries, can be directly used as color additives without the need of extraction  procedures. Huito, an understudied fruit native to the Amazon, is naturally colorless, but it can turn blue when exposed to oxygen or amino acids and can express different hues depending on the source of the primary-amine group. Overall, purple corn, colored-fleshed potatoes, sauco, Berberis species, and huito are promising Peruvian sources of natural colorants for food and cosmetic applications due to their versatility, stability, and attractive color characteristics.