ABSTRACT
Colorants are an extensive food additive group, which is, in general, nonnutritive. The application of colorants aims at the modulation of appearance and overall sensory quality of foodstuff formulations (Downham and Collins 2000; Scotter 2003). Their use is primarily oriented toward the avor and texture properties of processed foodstuffs. From the legal aspect of food chemistry, colorants are used to correct, enhance, or add color in foods; and to protect light-sensitive vitamins and avor. Illegally, colorants are used for adulteration purposes (e.g., disguise food of poor quality). From the aspect of food marketing, colorants are used to preserve the identity and character by which foods are recognized and to make foodstuffs more attractive to consumers (Downham and Collins 2000; Glória 1997). Colorants can be categorized as natural and synthetic. Natural colorants mainly known as pigments are described in Chapter 21 of this book, whereas this chapter discusses only synthetic colorants.
