Enhancing Stability of Betalains Extracted by Ultrasonic-assisted extraction from Beta Vulgaris L. Pomace and its characterization

Beetroot pomace constitutes a prolific reservoir of betalains, offering promising prospects for their application as natural food colorants. The study focused on extracting betalains from beetroot pomace, followed by freeze-drying and encapsulation using various carrier agents. The stability of betalains was investigated in conjunction with different encapsulating agents, such as maltodextrin (MD), in combination with guar gum (GG), acacia gum (AG), and tragacanth gum (TG). Each encapsulated formulation underwent thorough analysis of functional and physico-chemical characteristics, including total betalains, antioxidant activity, phenolic content, color attributes, zeta potential, particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectroscopy, morphology, and microscopy. The study revealed higher encapsulation efficiency of betalains when encapsulated with various gum combinations alongside maltodextrin. Encapsulated betalains demonstrated favorable coloring properties across different gum samples. Furthermore, betalains encapsulated with maltodextrin and guar gum exhibited greater bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds compared to formulations with maltodextrin, acacia gum, tragacanth gum. These findings suggest the potential of exploring natural waste materials as viable methods to improve the synthesis of encapsulated pigments. The potential utilization and stabilization of these pigments hold significant promise for the food industry, broadening their range of applications.