Color and Food Colorants

Abstract

This book was designed to serve as an introductory text for courses in food chemistry as part of food science programs meeting the Institute of Food Technologists standards. The original concept for the preparation of this book was to present basic information on the composition of foods and the chemical and physical characteristics they undergo during processing, storage, and han- dling. The basic principles of food chemistry remain the same, but much addi- tional research carried out in recent years has expanded and in some cases refined our knowledge. As with the third edition we have refined and expanded the material in all chapters. Because of the rapidly growing interest we have added chapters on transgenic crops as well as a chapter on beer and wine pro- duction. We felt the transgenic crop chapter was important so that students have a basic understanding of the technology and how it has evolved over the last 10,000 years. The chapter on beer and wine production is included to help the students appreciate the science behind fermented beverages. This knowl- edge will be valuable because the opportunities for food scientists in those areas are growing exponentially. In the area of water as a food component, the issue of the glass transition has received much attention. This demonstrates the important role of water in food properties. Carbohydrates and lipids are of major sources of food energy and are of major interest for their functional and nutritional properties in obesity and diabetes. Understanding how to the che- mistry of these ingredients will help food scientists better formulate new nutri- tionally superior foods in the future. Our understanding of the functionality of proteins expands with increasing knowledge about their composition and structure. Carbohydrates serve many functions in foods, and the non-caloric dietary fiber has assumed an important role. Color, flavor, and texture are important attributes of food quality, and in these areas, especially those of flavor and texture, great advances have been made in recent years. There is concern among consumers about the safety of additives including colors and flavors. We have also included a section on natural toxicants as well as ingredients that can cause adverse effects. It is important to realize that many components in foods can be harmful or safe depending on the concentrations in the foods. Enzymes are playing an ever increasing part in the production and transformation of foods. Modern meth- ods of biotechnology have produced a gamut of enzymes with new and improved properties. In the literature, information is found using different systems of units: metric, SI, and the English system. Quotations from the literature are presented in their original form. It would be difficult to change all these units in the book to one system. To assist the reader in converting these units, an appendix is provided with conversion factors for all units found in the text. It is hoped that this fourth edition will continue to fulfill the need for a concise and relevant text for the teaching of food chemistry. We hope that this edition will serve as a memorial to the enormous contributions of John deMan and continue to provide teaching and reference material of value.