Original title: Natural Pigment Recovery from Agri-Food Residues: A Critical Review of Extraction Approaches and Food Applications
Peels, pomaceThe solid leftovers, such as skins and pulp, after fruit or other plant material has been pressed., and other food-processing leftovers contain pigments that can colour food. This review compares studies that use methods such as sound waves, microwaves, enzymes, or pressurised fluids to recover those pigments. These methods can improve recovery, save time, or use less solvent in some cases. Results are hard to compare because studies use different materials and test conditions. The best method depends on the pigment and the leftover material.
Imagine sorting the scraps left after making dinner and trying to save the useful bits. Some scraps release their colour easily when soaked, while others need a different treatment, and the same method does not work equally well for every ingredient. In this paper, the scraps are food-processing leftovers, and the different ways of getting their colour out are the extraction methods; the right choice depends on the material and the colour being recovered.
Food processors could turn peels and other by-products into natural food colours instead of treating them only as waste. But choosing the right extraction method depends on the pigment and the material it comes from; no single method works best across all cases.
The review finds that differences in materials, extraction conditions, reference methods, and reporting units make studies difficult to compare. It does not establish one best method for all pigments and by-products. The abstract also identifies unresolved needs around standardisation, scale-up, food suitability, recovery rates, and regulatory acceptance.
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Natural Pigment Recovery from Agri-Food Residues: A Critical Review of Extraction Approaches and Food Applications — Maria Jenica Urs, Cristina Anamaria Semeniuc — Applied Sciences — doi:10.3390/app16199875
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.