Microbial pigments

Abstract

Color is a visual way of communication and rather very important one in foods, drugs, and cosmetics for creating or maintaining their acceptability or appeal. However, not all products are colored, or evenly so, and color additives are to be used in these products. Synthetic colors are being substituted by natural color additives, which have a market estimated in US$ 600 million and steadily growing at around 2 % annually. Natural colors are usually easier to metabolize than their synthetic counterparts and in several cases even have beneficial metabolic activity, as in carotenoid pigments. As a natural source, microbial pigments are suitable for mass production, when compared with vegetal or animal extracts. At the other side, these color additives are inherently less stable than synthetic ones, a problem that explains the limited palette of commercial microbial color additives. This chapter discusses the biological function of biopigments and presents the most important cases of commercial microbial pigments such as β-carotene, riboflavin, astaxanthin, phycocyanin, chlorophyllins, and Monascus pigments and the challenges and opportunities of its production using agro-industrial wastes. Finally, it discusses new product development, from microorganism selection to product formulation and trends in biopigment production.