NDRI extracts natural food colour from carrot waste
Karnal, July 2
Scientists and research scholars of Dairy Technology Division of the ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (ICAR-NDRI) have got success in extracting natural colour from carrot pomace, the waste product after extraction of juice from carrot. The scientists claimed that this natural colour would replace the synthetic food colours being used in ice cream, beverages, sweets etc.
Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan, Director, ICAR-NDRI, honoured the team over its success. Dr Chauhan appreciated the efforts of the team members and said carrot pomace was the leftover after extraction of juice from carrots. It is generally discarded as waste and thus poses an environmental threat. However, being a good source of carotenoids, it can potentially be introduced into the food chain.
“The team members — Dr Neelam Upadhyay, scientist, with senior faculty members Dr Ashish Kumar Singh, Principal Scientist and Head, DT, Dr Ravinder Malhotra and Dr Ganga Sahay Meena, and research scholars Swati Tiwari, Kuldeep Kamble, Hemant Thawkar and Shailesh K Meena — used green technology for extracting functional colour from it and diverting the same to the food chain. The team carried out extraction of yellow-coloured carotenoids from this carrot pomace,” said Chauhan.
The developed powder was employed as a functional ingredient in milk-based flavoured drink, which showed superior functional properties than the control flavoured milk, he added.
Three technologies were developed from this research work – omega-3 rich table spread, yellow-coloured natural functional colour and omega-3 rich powder which could directly be used in food products, he maintained.
All three technologies are listed in NDRI technologies ready for commercialisation and some industries are already approaching the institute for buying these technologies, he added.
