Effect of some antioxidant food additives on the degradation of cornelian cherry anthocyanins

Abstract

Anthocyanin rich fruits present a great potential as source of natural food colorants. Their use in the food industry is limited by their low stability. The influence of storage media and addition of three widely used antioxidant food additives, such as citric acid, ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxyanisole, on the stability of Cornelian cherry anthocyanins, was investigated at room temperature. In aqueous solutions, the degradation of these valuable pigments occurred slower compared to alcoholic solution. Addition of ascorbic acid significantly enhanced anthocyanins degradation in ethanolic or aqueous solutions, while citric acid and BHA had a positive effect on the anthocyanins’ stability in ethanol. The Cornelian cherry anthocyanins’ degradation followed first-order reaction kinetics. The obtained kinetic parameters (reaction rate constants k and halflifes t1/2) clearly indicated that Cornelian cherry anthocyanins stored in ethanol in presence of citric acid present the highest stability, the degradation rate constant being 0.74.10-3 h-1.