Researchers Consider Use of Nanoparticles to Color Water-Based Foods

According to Louisiana and Arkansas university researchers, entrapping betacarotene with nanoparticles could provide a way to use “natural” ingredients as food colorants. Carlos Astete, et al., “Ca2+ Cross-Linked Alginic Acid Nanoparticles for Solubilization of Lipophilic Natural Colorants,” Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, August 3, 2009. The research was undertaken in response to consumer concerns about the use of synthetic ingredients in food products. Using various production methods, solvents and nanoparticle sizes, the scientists found a method that produced substances which could readily be incorporated in an industrial scale process. Simply changing nanostructure concentration could, according to one of the authors, allow color changes “from dark orange to yellow.”