Extraction of Plant Pigments from Local Raw Materials

Introduction. Violation of the ecological balance and modern processing methods may result in a lower content of important nutrients in food. Therefore, there is a need to restore the balance of biologically active substances in food products. In this regard, it seems appropriate to use plant materials that contain biologically active substances, as well as pigments. The use of aromatic plants for these purposes remains understudied. The research objective was to extract chlorophyll-based green pigments based from green plants. Study objects and methods. The object of the study was dried parsley (Petroselinum vulgare). The extractants included acetone, ethyl alcohol (95%), hexane, petroleum ether, and chloroform. Results and discussion. The extractants were chosen according to the total content of chlorophylls, which determine the color of the extract. Since carotenoids are extracted along with chlorophylls, the content of this component was also determined. Acetone demonstrated the maximum degree of chlorophyll recovery. However, this solvent cannot be used in food industry. Therefore, 95% ethanol, which also showed a high degree of chlorophyll extraction, was chosen as the extractant. A set of experiments made it possible to establish the ratio of feedstock and extractant as 1:60 (three times extraction with a mass ratio of parsley and extract); the optimal time of each extraction was 0.5 ± 0.1 h. Magnesium carbonate (MgCO2) helped to preserve the dyes. In order to increase the concentration of coloring substances, the obtained extract was subjected to thickening at a residual pressure of 400 Pa at 40°C. Conclusion. The obtained concentrate from dried parsley can be used in production of combined foods.