6533b7d3fe1ef96bd125fedb

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Plant Pigments: Properties, Analysis, Degradation

Benoît Schoefs

subject

Biological pigmentComplex matrixFood productsDeep knowledgePigment degradationDegradation (geology)Mineralogysense organsBiochemical engineeringBiology

description

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the molecular structures, the general physicochemical properties of plant pigments, and the mechanisms involved in pigment degradation. The invasive and noninvasive methods used for pigment analysis, including the mechanisms involved in pigment degradation, are reviewed. The chapter presents different analytical methods that can be used to identify pigments. All the methods are invasive techniques that are time consuming and often expensive. To reduce sampling and analytical costs, and to speed up the analyses, noninvasive analytical procedures have been developed with the aim to characterize the pigment content of samples, and in the case of food products, to estimate the impact of a color change on the visual perception of the product. The complete extraction of pigments requires several steps and may use a mixture of several solvents. This is true when the sample contains pigments of different polarities or pigments that are present in a complex matrix. Research on plant pigments is fascinating because it involves many methods and a deep knowledge in several fields. Plant pigment studies should be continued because they may procure several immediate interesting impressions, and commercial and health advantages.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s1043-4526(05)49002-6