Plants and mushrooms as sources of bio-based food coloring, preserving and bioactive agents

Food additives have been used for thousands of years to enhance food properties, safety and appearance. Nevertheless, several of the worldwide used artificial additives have been related to potential toxic and allergenic effects to the consumers, which has been justifying the growing interest in additives of natural origin that provide colouring, preserving, and bioactive properties to foodstuff without hazardous effects [1]. In this context, several plants and mushrooms have been explored as sources of natural molecules to be used as bio-based additives in food industry. Among the studied compounds, betalains (e.g. gomphrenin II, gomphrenin III, isogomphrenin II, and isogomphrenin III) and anthocyanins (e.g. cyanidin, delphinidin, and malvidin derivatives) obtained from purple globe amaranth, rose, dahlia, centaurea, strawberry-tree, roselle, and blueberry were incorporated in ice-cream, yogurt, and waffles for colouring purposes [e.g. 2]. Otherwise, preserving molecules such as flavonoids (e.g. catechin, and quercetin and luteolin derivatives), phenolic acids (e.g. rosmarinic, chicoric, lithospermic, caffeic, and caffeoylquinic acids), and hydrolysable tannins (e.g. trigalloyl-HHDP-glucoside) were extracted from strawberry-tree, basil, lemon balm, sweet chestnut flowers, fennel, and German chamomile, and were tested in loaf bread, cupcakes, yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese, namely [e.g. 3]. On the other hand, phenolic acids (e.g. rosmarinic acid), flavonoids (e.g. quercetin derivatives), and ellagitannins (e.g. sanguiin H-10 and lambertianin) from mushrooms, wild strawberry, rosemary, mountain sandwort, and flowers of silva brava demonstrated bioactive properties when introduced in gelatin, yogurt, and cottage cheese [e.g. 4]. Therefore, natural sources such as plants and mushrooms seem to be a valuable alternative for food additives exploitation, with proven efficacy in different food matrices.This work is funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds (FEEI) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Mobilizador ValorNatural® and Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-023289: DeCodE