Pigment stability in Chaba maple (Hibiscus acetosella Welw. Ex Hiern.) petals extract as natural food and cosmetic colorants

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the stability of Chaba maple (Hibiscus acetosella Welw. Ex Hiern.) petal extracts with different extraction methods. Natural colorants from the petals of Chaba maple were extracted by maceration (MDE) and freeze dry (FDE) method. The stability of compounds in the extract was studied under different environmental conditions by varying the pH, temperature and light exposure. Percent degradation of the color pigments was calculated. The results showed that lower pH and high temperatures of 50 C and 80 C increases the stability of pigments in both MDE and FDE. Notably, MDE was significantly more stable than FDE, when exposed to light. Overall, pH, temperature and light exposure affect the stability of the extracts, though MDE was found to be more stable than FDE. However, since solvent contamination may cause toxicity in MDE, FDE may be a more suitable natural colorant for food and cosmetic products.

Keywords

• chaba maple (hibiscus acetosella welw. ex hiern.)
• anthocyanin
• stability
• food colorant
• cosmetic colorant