Last week, Pantone, an international color authority, released the 2022 pop color, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri, a bluish-purple hue that gives people a gentle and comfortable visual effect. However, if it is used as the main color of food (especially drink), few people can like it. Because, studies have shown that blue-hued foods can suppress people's appetite and give people a full sense of pigmentation. But beverages with gradient colors or light colors of blue may make people change their minds and stimulate people's desire to taste.
Luckin's "Walden Blue Series", Starbucks' "Ice and Snow Fun Star Ice" and Heytea's Disney Limited Edition "Glacier Adventure"... This summer's drinks are a good example, they are no longer the opposite of the appearance of the overturn, but the right color of the positive teaching material! The modulation of such a gentle blue is due to the "phycocyanin".
Pamela Denish, a biophysics researcher at the University of California, Davis, has said that blue is quite rare in nature, and it is more red and purple. And phycocyanin is a rather rare touch of blue in nature.
This issue is available in one week, and the selected raw material is phycocyanin, please see for details
Domestic standards and regulations
Spirulina, the raw material of phycocyanin, is a health food raw material
Source: State Administration for Market Regulation, National Health Commission, and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Announcement on the Release of Five Catalogues of Health Food Raw Materials including Coenzyme Q10
Note: Spirulina is derived from arthrospira platensis and arthrospira maxima artificially cultured, harvested, washed algae puree, spray dried, or other drying methods and sterilized dry powder, its signature ingredient β-carotene ≥ 0.20 g/kg, phycocyanin ≥ 5.00%
GB 1886.309-2020 National Standard for Food Safety Food Additives Phycolane
Scope of application: Phycoal blue, a food additive prepared by water extraction, purification and other processes, using spirulina (Spirulina) as raw material
Status of foreign regulations
United States
(1) The aqueous extracts rich in phycocyanin of cyanobacteria (spirulina maximis and blunt-tipped spirulina) have been certified by GRN No. 424(1]
Uses: All food ingredients except infant formula and foods under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up to 250 mg/serving
(2) Spirulina extract with phycocyanin as the main coloring component can be exempted from certification when used as color additives[2]
Scope of use: Confectionery coloring (including confectionery and chewing gum), frosting, ice cream and frozen desserts, dessert coatings and toppings, beverage mixtures and powders, yogurt, custard sauce, pudding, cottage cheese, gelatin, breadcrumbs, ready-to-eat grains (excluding puffed grains), coating formulations for dietary supplement tablets and capsules in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and seasonal coloring of cooked eggshells, but it cannot be used in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Section 401 characteristically prescribes the coloring of food, unless the added color is authorized by these standards
Japan
Spirulina pigments (phycocyanin-based substances extracted from spirulina) are pre-existing additives that can be used as colorants[3]
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of the Republic of Korea
Phycocyanin (extracted from blunt-tipped spirulina, the main pigment is phycocyanin) is a food additive[4]
Food Authority of Singapore
Spirulina extract or cyanobacteria cyanobin extracted from spirulina is a food additive permitted under the Singapore Food Ordinance[5]
Requirements: lead content ≤ 2 mg/kg, arsenic content ≤ 2 mg/kg, mercury content ≤ 1 mg/kg, microcystin negative[6]
Food questions and answers
Q1: Does phycocyanin produce phycotoxins during the extraction process? What are the removal methods?
Director Chen of Zhejiang Binmei Bio: Algal toxins are not produced in the production process of phycocyanin. Here's why:
(1) First of all, microcystis mainly grows in weakly acidic waters, while spirulina mainly grows in alkaline waters, so spirulina is basically free of algal toxins;
(2) Secondly, even if the raw material spirulina contains trace amounts of algal toxins, it contains two links in the production process, filtration and fine filtration, through which the effect of removing algal toxins can be achieved;
(3) Finally, algal toxins are generally produced by water pollution, while the production process of phycocyanin is produced in a full physical way, involving only freeze-thaw, centrifugation, filtration and other steps, therefore, algal toxins are generally carried by algae in a polluted water environment, and algal toxins are not produced during production.
Q2: How to distinguish the level of phycocyanin? [7]
The determination of phycocyanin purity is based on the ratio of absorbance (A620/A280), and the absorbance at 620 nm and 280 nm corresponds to phycocyanin and total protein, respectively:
(1) When A620/A280 ≤ 0.7, phycocyanin is considered to be food grade;
(2) When 0.7 ≤ A620/A280 ≤ 3.9, phycocyanin is considered to be reagent grade;
(3) When A620/A280 ≥ 4.0, phycocyanin is considered to be analytical grade.
Q3: What are the effects of phycocyanin? [8-11]
(1) Antioxidant. Many literatures have shown that phycocyanin has antioxidant activity that scavenging hydroxyl radicals and hydroperoxy radicals. In addition to this, it has been reported to have some degree of antioxidant regulatory effects. By establishing a mouse model of doxorubicin(*note) induced oxidative damage, some researchers found that the reactive oxygen species level of the treatment group was significantly reduced compared with the control group by using phycocyanin treatment in model mice;
(2) It has auxiliary protection function for radiation hazards. By establishing a mouse model of X-ray radiation damage, the researchers studied the protective effect of phycocyanin on the oxidative damage caused by radiation, and the experimental results showed that phycocyanin can improve the oxidation resistance of mice, reduce the oxidative damage caused by radiation to the body, and have a good protective effect on radiation damage in mice.
(3) Enhance immunity. In vivo mouse model experiments have shown that phycocyanin can promote the differentiation and growth of mouse granulocyte monolinear progenitor cells, thereby improving the immune function of the mouse body. In addition, phycocyanin has also been reported to reduce allergic reactions in mice through immunomodulatory activity;
(4) It has auxiliary protective function for chemical liver injury. By establishing a model of alcoholic liver injury in rats, the researchers found that the administration of phycocyanin complex can effectively inhibit the damage of alcohol to liver cells, and the dose groups of phycocyanin complex can significantly inhibit the lipid peroxidation reaction caused by alcohol, inhibit the rise of serum and liver MDA, protect liver cells, and have a significant dose-effect relationship;
(5) Helps keep skin hydrated and reduces dryness. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating the effects of phycocyanin from spirulina on skin function in healthy subjects, the researchers randomly divided 96 subjects into phycocyanin (including C-phycocyanin and allecocyanin) and placebo, and found that in the test diet group containing phycocyanin, the water evaporation of the subjects' skin (indicator of skin moisture) was significantly reduced after 8 weeks.
(*Note: Doxorubicin is an effective antitumor drug, but has great side effects, can cause oxidative damage to cardiomyocytes, which in turn may trigger primary cardiomyopathy and congestive heart disease)
Q4: What are the applications of phycocyanin? [12]
(1) Used as a natural pigment. Phycocyanin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2013 as a food additive to food matrices and is currently used as a natural colorant in foods such as beverages, dairy products and confectionery. In addition, it can also be applied to cosmetics, fuel and other industries;
(2) Used as a fluorescent substance. Phycocyanin has a wide excitation spectrum and high quantum yield of fluorescence, has a single visible absorption maximum between 615 and 620 nm, has a maximum fluorescence emission near 640 nm, and has no toxic effect on immunological analysis, so it can be made into fluorescent reagents, fluorescent probes, fluorescent tracers, etc., for clinical medical diagnosis, immunochemistry and biological engineering and other research fields;
(3) Used as a functional food raw material. Functional research on phycocyanin has been ongoing, and some products with functional claims that use phycocyanin as a raw material are already on the market.
Product application
(1) Binmei Bio Phycocyanin
(2) DIC Corporation PHYCONA Fragments
(3) Zhong Xue cake ice blue sea salt coconut ice cream
(4) Weiyou add "collagen umbrella" sodium hyaluronate fruit juice gummies
bibliography
1、https://www.cfsanappsexternal.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/index.cfm?set=GRASNotices&id=424&sort=GRN_No&order=DESC&startrow=1&type=basic&search=phycocyanin
2、https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=73.530
3、https://www.ffcr.or.jp/shokuhin/2014/02/C3F4C591005986D949256FA900252700.html
4、Food Additive Code
5、sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/tools-and-resources/resources-for-businesses/list-of-food-additives-permitted-under-food-regulations.pdf
6、https://www.sfa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/legislation/sale-of-food-act/food-(amendment)-regulations-2017.pdf
7、Jiang, L., Wang, Y., Yin, Q., Liu, G., Liu, H., Huang, Y., & Li, B. (2017). Phycocyanin: A Potential Drug for Cancer Treatment. Journal of Cancer, 8(17), 3416–3429
8. Hao S, et al. Research Progress on Physiological Activity of Functional Food Phycocyanin[J]. Journal of Food and Biotechnology, 2017, 36(12): 1233-1240
9. Liu Qi, et al. Protective effect of phycocyanin on radiation-induced oxidative damage in mice[J]. Nuclear Techniques, 2018, 41(01): 31-36
10.Zhao Y J, et al. Research Progress on Physiological Activity and Mechanism of Action of Phycocyanin[J]. Journal of Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 2011, 39(11): 6332-6333+6490
11、Y. Imai, et al. Phycocyanin reduces transepidermal water loss and improves skin barrier function in healthy subjects—A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparison trial. Jpn Pharmacol Ther, 2019, 47(11): 1833-40
12、Kuddus, M., Singh, P., Thomas, G., & Al-Hazimi, A. (2013). Recent developments in production and biotechnological applications of C-phycocyanin. BioMed research international, 2013, 742859
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