Replace Sudan Red's New Technology of Biological Color-keeping Packaging

The value and function of food color retention

Preservation and packaging of any food is to put its color retention in the first place. China's diet and food production emphasize color, smell and taste. The color of food is the appearance after the package is removed. When people spend shopping, they begin with their appearance and color. In many similar foods, colorful foods are always favored by consumers and can be sold at higher prices. The color of food is also very much related to people's psychology and physiology. Japanese scholar Sansuke Mitsuko, who is committed to long-term research in this area, has recently formed his monograph "The Cookery Method of Absorbing the Incredible Energy of Different Kinds of Food."

According to the study of Sanjinzi in the mountains, the color of food ingredients has the effect of comforting people and giving people energy. Therefore, she has the title of "food color therapist" in Japan.

Sanjitsu of the mountain believes that: “If you want to maximize the energy of color, the best way is to eat into the body. In the health boom, people choose food tend to focus on nutrition. But she pointed out: “If the heart is listless, eat Don't feel fragrant. I would like to suggest that everyone eat the color of the ingredients and mobilize their inner emotions. ”

This book divides the dishes into 10 colors, such as red, pink, orange, and green, which illustrate the effects of various colors. At the same time, they also introduce what kind of foods are suitable for the body and mind when they are in the state of mind and body. Production Method. These production methods are characterized by the maximum use of the color of the ingredients, without excessive processing.

According to her, the book has had some very interesting situations in the publishing process. “Facing the use of red dishes made from ingredients such as beef and tomatoes, the staff will gradually feel excited. On the contrary, when faced with white dishes, It will make progress easily. This makes me once again appreciate the incredible color energy."

In our country's traditional dietary habits, there are also many psychological and physiological effects related to color. This article studies red, so only the red effect is analyzed. Consumers in China have a good early recognition of red food: they think the red sign is mature, and the red is more tasty. The red color gives people a sense of maturity and deliciousness, and the eyes are bright and festive. They can attract attention and stimulate people's desire to purchase. Many foods are dominated by red, trying to maintain or increase redness in processing and packaging, thereby increasing product sales, which may also be the source of Sudan’s red wind wave in 2005.

Sudan red and its harm

Many specific foods that remain red or red make it a selling point in sales. Make it promotional and value-added. This is also one of the functions in food processing and packaging. It is precisely because of this that many foods are increased in various ways by red, mainly by adding various pigments, especially the addition of a carcinogenic substance - Sudan Red. This is a sensational incident in the food industry and Sudan that threatens food safety.

In April 2005, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine announced that after conducting special inspections on foods that may contain Sudan Red in 18 provinces, municipalities and districts across the country, it was found that 88 foods and additives from 30 manufacturing enterprises contained Sudan Red. These food production enterprises are mainly concentrated in the major production and sales areas of pepper products and tomato products in Guangdong, Shanghai, and Jiangsu. The tested products include chili oil, chili sauce, pickles, spicy convenience foods, and raw materials for production. It was found that a small number of additive manufacturers sold Sudanese red as a food additive, pepper red pigment, to a spicy product processing company.

In response to the Sudanese incident, the National Ministry of Health specifically made a "Sudan Red Risk Assessment Report." Into the body of the Sudan mainly through the gastrointestinal microbial reductase, liver and extrahepatic tissue microsomal and cytoplasmic reductase metabolism, in vivo metabolism into the corresponding amines. In a number of in vitro mutagenicity tests and animal carcinogenic tests, the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of Sudan Red were found to be related to metabolically generated amines. Sudan Red I can be reductively metabolized into the primary products aniline and I-amino-2-naphthol in vivo. The metabolism of Sudan II in the body produces dimethylaniline and 1-amino-2-naphthol. The metabolism of Sudan III in vivo produces 4-aminoazobenzene, 1-amino-2-naphthol, aniline, p-phenylenediamine, and 1-4 amino-phenylazo-naphthol. The metabolism of Sudan IV in vivo produces o-aminoazotoluene, 4-amino-2-tolylazo-2-naphthol, 2,5-diaminotoluene, 1-amino-2-naphthol and o-A aniline.

Many countries have banned the addition of pigments to foods, which is also expressly prohibited in China. However, because of its bright color, some countries, such as India, also allow the addition of Sudan Red I during the processing of chili powder. Recently, the European Union detected Sudan Red from the red pepper powder imported from India. The amount of Sudan Red I detected was 2.8-3500 mg/kg. At the same time, this substance was also detected in some other foods. For example, the content of Sudan I in some spices reached 0.7-170 mg/kg. There are also reports that Sudan Red II, III and IV can be detected in chili powder. For example, the content of Sudan IV in pepper powder and chili sauce is 230 and 380 mg/kg, respectively, but it is generally found in chili powder. The main detection is Sudan Red I. On February 18th this year, The Food Standard Agency (FSA) issued a warning to consumers about foods containing sudanese red pigment, and published a list of products that may contain Sudan Red I on its website. As of February 24, the list of products increased to 474, including sausages, instant noodles, cooked meats, pies, chili powder, sauces and other products.

According to the Expert Committee on Flavourings of the Council of Europe, per capita consumption of red paprika powder in Europe is 50-500 mg/kg, while that of Sudan Red I in red paprika powder is 2.8-3500 mg/kg, thus deducing that the average daily intake of Sudanese Red I per person in Europe is 0.14-1750 mg/kg. In a report submitted to the European Condiment Association Expert Committee in France, the average daily consumption and maximum consumption of capsicum (including red pepper and paprika) were 77 and 264 mg/kg, respectively, per capita in the paprika powder. The estimated amount of I detected was 2.8-3500 mg/kg, and the average daily European Sudanese I intake was 0.2-270 mg/kg, and the maximum intake was 0.7-924 mg/kg.

Sudan red does not occur naturally in food, but there are naturally occurring amines in many foods. If studies have reported that 0.6-30.9 mg/kg of aniline can be detected in fresh fruits and vegetables, 22 mg/kg of aniline can be detected in Chinese cabbage and 30.9 mg/kg of aniline can be detected in carrots. It was detected in the volatile components of black tea and garlic juice. 7.2 mg/kg of toluidine was detected in carrots, and 1.1 mg/kg of toluidine was detected in celery and cabbage.

The report evaluated the risk factors such as carcinogenicity, allergenicity, and genotoxicity of the subtypes of Sudan Red dyes, and concluded that the risk of harm to human health is small, with occasional small amounts of Sudanese Carcinogenicity caused by the food is not dangerous, but if you regularly ingest foods containing higher doses of Sudan, it will increase the risk of cancer.

According to the report, in terms of its degree of toxicity, in accordance with the current detection amount and possible intake in foods, an increase of 100,000-1,000,000 times Sudan red content in foods can induce animal tumors, and The carcinogenic potential is minimal.

At the same time, the report pointed out that Sudan Red is an artificial pigment that does not naturally exist in foods. If the content of Sudan Red in foods is as high as thousands of milligrams, then Sudan Red’s chances of causing animal tumors will increase by a factor of 100. Since some of the metabolites of Sudan Red are carcinogenic to humans, there is currently no tolerance to these substances and therefore should be banned in food.

But so far, no material additives and technologies that can replace Sudan Red's protective food red have yet been seen, so we have studied the biological mechanism of food discoloration. Biological enzyme was used instead of Sudan Red to preserve the color of the food.

Mechanism and Technology Research

1. Mechanism

(1) Causes of discoloration

The discoloration of red food (including capsaicin) in agricultural products is mainly faded and browned.

The reason for the discoloration of agricultural foods is determined by its internal mechanism. There are many theoretical analyses of the discoloration of red foods, which are concentrated on the biochemical reactions in food pigments and change them.

The red pigments studied in this paper are mainly pigments of carotenoids and thiamine hydrochloride. The former is a fat-soluble pigment that is widely distributed in plants, animals, and microbes and is relatively easy to oxidize. The latter is a water-soluble pigment that is widely distributed in fruit and vegetable plants (including peppers) and is susceptible to fading due to heat, light, and oxygen. Red pigments, whether fat-soluble or water-soluble, are difficult to stably store, and are characterized by discoloration, discoloration, or browning. Conventional studies have suggested that these pigment materials are unstable and easily oxidize and cause discoloration.

Modern scientific research shows that: food discoloration is due to the role of certain enzymes inside the body, and accelerate the pigment reaction, resulting in oxidation and loss of the original color, especially the red in food, for the change of red pepper pigment, promote it The internal forces of discoloration are still lacking in research.

However, statistics show that the red pepper changes mainly to brown. The browning also belongs to the role of biological enzymes, that is, enzymatic browning. Enzymatic browning is caused by the biochemical reaction of oxidases in raw materials of fruit and vegetables. The phenolic oxidase (phlyphenol oxiase) catalyzes the production of brown or black substances from endogenous phenolic compounds. Phenolic enzymes in plants are oligomers. Each subunit contains a copper ion as a prosthetic group, oxygen is a hydrogen donor, and phenols are substrates. In intact plant tissues, phenolic enzymes and phenolic substrates are separated from each other, in particular phenolic substances participate in respiratory metabolism in normal plant tissues, phenols and quinones are in a dynamic equilibrium of redox, and browning does not occur. . The plant cells are destroyed and the normal respiratory chain is disrupted. The addition of oxygen causes the phenolic substrate to rapidly oxidize to the adjacent quinones under the action of phenol enzymes, and in turn quickly forms the brown pigment or melanin through the auto polymerization of hydroxyoximes. . Therefore, once the plant tissue is damaged and there is oxygen and copper, browning is very likely to occur, which is particularly evident in light-colored vegetables. The method of inhibiting the enzymatic browning reaction is therefore based on the removal of oxygen, copper, enzymes or phenolic substrates and the like, in particular enzymes.

(2) Color retention mechanism

The key to the color retention mechanism in food or plants is to cure or stabilize the original pigment. The use of color retention mechanism can achieve the purpose of food color retention. Red protection in red food is also accomplished using its color retention mechanism. The specific color retention mechanism has the following aspects.

(1) The pH, O2, light and other conditions of the original pigments in the control plants are changed to reduce the color change;

2 Polyphenols in plants are browned by the action of polyphenol oxidase and oxygen, and polyphenols need to be controlled.

3 Non-enzymatic browning of carbohydrates and amino acids in plants occurs during the heat treatment of processing;

4 Some colorless components of plants are affected by factors such as metal ions and cause discoloration. Not all color stabilization techniques can meet color retention goals.

In the existing food color retention treatment, many methods are difficult to achieve the purpose of color retention. The addition of a color-protecting agent for color retention has led to the addition of substances such as Sudan Red. Regardless of