The technical level of annatto production needs to be improved

The National Health Commission recently issued the 2022 "Announcement on Seven "Three New Foods" such as Lactase, which involves the expansion of the scope of use of tomato red, carmine red, new varieties of lactase and other new varieties of
food-related products.
Among them, annatto is a natural pigment extracted from the dry body of female carmine, the main component is carmine acid
.
It is understood that at present, due to the influence of technical level and other factors in China, cochineal red pigment has not yet achieved large-scale production
.

Carmine is a class of resource insects that parasitize cactus plants, and carmine acid is the most important component of carmine, also known as magentic acid
.
Carmine acid is very soluble in water, dark red in water, can also be dissolved in other solutions, such as methanol, ethanol, acetone, dimethyl sulfoxide and other polar solvents, and produce different colors, but insoluble in ether, chloroform, petroleum ether, toluene, benzene and other non-polar or weakly polar solvents
.
The pH value of carmine is applicable to 2-9, and it shows different colors
at different pH values.

Carmine acid has good photothermal stability and oxidation resistance
.
Therefore, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) believe that the rational application of annatto in the field of food additives has a good safety
.
The FDA allows annatto to be used in food as well as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics
.
In addition, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Australia and New Zealand's Food Standards Agency, etc.
allow it to be used as a coloring agent in food
.
According to the evaluation results of the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Food Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, the allowable daily intake of the substance is 0-5 mg/kg body weight
。 In China, carmine as a food additive has been included in the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Use Standard" (GB2760-2014), which is allowed to be used in frozen drinks, candy, baked goods, cooked meat products and the application to expand the scope of use for conditioning meat products (raw meat added seasoning), its quality specifications implement the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Carmine and Its Aluminum Lake" (GB1886.
315-2021).

At present, the main countries in the world for carmine production and technology research are Spain, Peru, Japan, Germany, etc.
, of which Peru is the largest exporter of carmine and carmine, and the main consumers are Europe, the United States and Japan
.
At the end of the 90s of the 20th century, cochineal insects were introduced by the Institute of Resource Entomology, Chinese Academy of Forestry, and successfully bred
in southwest China.
The development of carmine red in China is also underway, mainly focusing on the biological characteristics, ecological characteristics, artificial large-scale breeding technology of carchineal, as well as the extraction of carmine red pigment and the application of carmine red pigment in the detection of indicators
.
However, limited by the influence of technology such as breeding and separation, China has not yet formed a relevant large-scale industry, and carmine has always relied on imports
.

Currently, annatto is widely used in the food sector for bakery and confectionery products, soft drinks, strawberries and jams
.
In addition, the growing demand for colorants in the meat industry is driving the growing
market.
According to market data, the global carmine red market size reached $47.
2 million in 2021 and is expected to reach $68.
5 million in 2027, with a CAGR of 6.
1%
from 2022 to 2027.

Industry insiders pointed out that if the synthetic pathway of carmine acid can be clarified by analyzing the big data of the genome of annatto, the synthetic pathway gene can be transferred to E.
coli, and the synthetic biology can be used to create the production of Escherichia coli carmine, the "bacterial factory" production of carmine can be realized, and the indoor mass production of carmine can be realized, and the process can be added to remove sensitizing proteins in the production process, so as to achieve commercial use
.

(Source: Zhitiqiao)

China Food News (October 24, 2022, Edition 06)

(Editor: Yang Xiaojing)