Preparation and characterization of modified caramel with binary carboxylic acids

Abstract

The caramel color is one of the most widely used natural food colorants. At present, there are few reports about its modification. The modification of caramel is expected to improve its stability, color indexes and compatibility with food. In this paper, succinic and maleic acid modified caramels were prepared by esterification reaction of the raw caramel with succinic anhydride and maleic anhydride, and characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectra, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, and scanning electron microscope (SEM), etc. The significant changes of color, yellow and red indexes of the modified caramels indicated that the modification technique can be used to adjust the color properties of caramel to meet the various needs of different fields and expand the application of caramel. Compared with raw caramel, though the antioxidant ability of caramel was decreased, the thermal stability was improved, which made it more suitable for cooking and high temperature sterilization environment compared to the raw caramel. This study provided an alternative method for improving the performance of the caramel as food colors.