Photostability of Organic Red Food Dyes

This study compares the photostability of three organic red dyes, Red 40 (allura red AC), betanin and carminic acid, in aqueous and soft drink solutions. The degradation, traced through absorbance spectroscopy, is well fit to first-order kinetics. Two distinct timescales are observed in aqueous solution but only a single, faster decay in the soft drink matrix. Betanin is the least stable dye in both solvent environments and Red 40 exhibits the greatest destabilization in the soft drink solution. Anoxia has different impacts dependent upon both the dye and solvent system. The analysis provides further insight into the degradation mechanisms for these different red dyes and the role of environment on their photostability.
Source: Food Chemistry - Category: Food Science Source Type: research