Alternative red hue from purple sweet potato

Tag : potato, sweet potato

The company said the new product is an anthocyanin colorant, wherethe pigment is extracted from a fruit or vegetable source. Itprovides a red hue in acidic conditions and potential applicationinclude beverages, sherbet, salad dressings, fruit preparations andsauces.

It echoes a trend among both consumers and manufacturers fornatural alternatives to synthetic food colors, partly due to healthconcerns, and a growing desire for "natural" products.

DD Williamson said food and beverage processors in the US who usethe purple sweet potato can boast of their product being "colored with vegetable juice" or "vegetable juice color" as part of their ingredients statement on the label.

Campbell Barnum, global vice president, branding & marketdevelopment at DD Williamson , told FoodNavigator-USA.com: "Our testing shows that purple sweet potato has good stabilityproperties compared to alternative anthocyanin sources.

"From a processing and shelf-life perspective, vegetable-basedcoloring is usually more stable than fruit-based coloring.

"In the US, processors can declare "vegetable juice for color" on aproduct label.