Natural pigments as an alternative to synthetic coloring and preservatives for the animal food industry: a review

• Autor(a) principal: Martins, Paulo Henrique Pessoa
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Marinho, Bruna Sthephany dos Santos, Lima, Gláucia Manoela de Souza
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: The Journal of Engineering and Exact Sciences
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufv.br/jcec/article/view/15105
• topic: Low toxicity; Biopigment; Animal feed; new fonts; Baixa toxicidade; Biopigmento; Ração animal; Nova fonte

Brazil is one of the largest livestock producers in the world, with more than 1800 million head of cattle, 1200 million swine and 370 million birds, and the second largest in population of dogs and cats, with more than 52 million dogs and 22 million cats. Food colourings are additives with important relevance for the feed industry, as they improve the appearance of food intended for animals, in addition to being used as colouring agents in some birds. Thus, making the product more attractive, directly influencing the consumer's power of choice. However, the components used in the feed industry have been identified as the cause of several diseases all around the world. In contrast to artificial dyes, the natural dyes in addition to making foods more attractive, can add advantages to products, being relevant for the animal in terms of improving its biological functions as anticancer, which for the industry, can associate numerous advantages to its products, such as natural preservative agents, reducing the number of artificial additives in the rations, in addition to meeting ecological issues for being biodegradable. Some microorganisms and plants are industrially relevant for their production of pigments, such as microorganisms of the genus Streptomyces and Aspergillus, and plants, such as the genus Indigofera, which produce natural pigments, with different biological effects, and can be used in the industry as a food additive to perform a bactericidal role, dyeing and food preservation. Therefore, this study aims to review the main sources of natural pigments for the food industry.