pH-Adjusted Anthocyanin Colorant for Brown Hard Panned Coatings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercially available anthocyanin-containing colorants fail to provide a brown hue in sucrose-based syrups or hard panned coatings, often resulting in violet or muddy tones, and combinations with yellow colorants do not achieve an uncontaminated brown hue, making it challenging to create hard panned confections with desired color attributes.
Innovation Solution
A sucrose-based hard panned coating is developed using a pH-adjusted purple carrot anthocyanin-containing colorant, adjusted to a pH of 5-7, combined with a yellow colorant, which results in a brown hue described by specific CIELCH color space coordinates, providing a stable and uniform brown color without contaminating tones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If commercially available anthocyanin-containing colorants are used in sucrose-based syrups, then the coating provides natural coloring, but the resulting hue is violet or muddy rather than brown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by adjusting the pH of the anthocyanin-containing colorant to a specific range of 5.0-7.0. This pH adjustment transforms the color output from violet/muddy tones to a desirable brown hue, while maintaining natural coloring properties. The controlled pH parameter enables both color consistency and hue accuracy simultaneously.
2Manufacturing precision
If yellow colorant is combined with anthocyanin to achieve brown hue, then brown color is obtained, but the brown hue is contaminated with unwanted tones
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of combining yellow colorant with anthocyanin, the patent changes the pH parameter of the anthocyanin solution to 5.0-7.0, which naturally produces a brown hue without contamination. This single-parameter adjustment eliminates the need for color mixing that causes unwanted tones.
3Manufacturing precision
If pH of anthocyanin solution is adjusted to 5-7 to achieve brown hue, then desired brown color is obtained, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a straightforward pH adjustment process using food-grade alkali to reach pH 5.0-7.0. This simple parameter change achieves the desired brown hue without requiring complex processing equipment or multiple操作步骤, maintaining process simplicity while ensuring hue accuracy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves a brown hue in hard panned confections with a ΔE color difference of 10 or less compared to synthetic brown colorants, ensuring a consistent and appealing color appearance.
Implementation Method 1
the nature and intensity of the colouring anthocyanin-containing pigments change depending on a medium pH ('at a pH value of about 6 or greater, the anthocyanin extract changes to a purple of blue hue')
Implementation Method 2
a sucrose-based, hard panned coating comprising sucrose... wherein the coating is substantially crystalline
Data Source
AI summary
The present application is directed to a method of hard pan coating an edible core, a sucrose-based, hard panned coating, and a hard panned confection comprising an edible core coated with the same. The sucrose-based, hard panned coating comprises sucrose and a pH-adjusted purple carrot anthocyanin-containing colorant, is substantially crystalline, and has a brown hue described by a CIELCH color space h° coordinate of from about 0° to about 70°. In some embodiments, the coating further comprises a yellow colorant. The colorants are desirably naturally sourced to provide alternatives to synthetic colorants for coloring hard panned confectionery coatings in brown hues.