A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF VARIOUS ANALYTICAL METHOD AVAILABLE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF FOOD COLOURS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT REGULATORY ASPECTS

KRISHNAVENI NAGAPPAN; SHARAN RAJ RAJMOHAN; MOHIT ANANDA; AISWARYA MAHENDRAN; BALAGEE MUTHUKUMAR; PADMA PRIYA V.

doi:10.22159/ijap.2025v17i6.55080

Authors

KRISHNAVENI NAGAPPAN Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0596-9489
SHARAN RAJ RAJMOHAN Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India
MOHIT ANANDA Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1142-543X
AISWARYA MAHENDRAN Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India
BALAGEE MUTHUKUMAR Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2101-7848
PADMA PRIYA V. Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu-643001, India https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8124-2439

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22159/ijap.2025v17i6.55080

Keywords:

Colorants, FSSAI, HPLC, Mass spectrometry, UHPLC, UV-Vis Spectrophotometry

Abstract

Food additives have been an integral part since ancient times in the preservation and enhancement of food. Ancient civilization had evolved from simple preservation techniques to sophisticated synthetic compounds that transformed over thousands of years. This review article focuses on various food additives such as: acidity regulators, emulsifying and stabilizing agents, antioxidants, colorants, flavouring agents, leavening agents, bulking agents, and preservatives. Particular emphasis is placed on the colorants in food and divided it into three main categories: natural, nature-identical, and synthetic. Food colours have a different regulatory framework across all the countries. However, few differences have been seen among FDA of United States, EFSA of European Union, and FSSAI of India. India has approved only nine synthetic colour additives while the FDA allows 19, EU allows food colours of 43 altogether-natural and synthetic. The analytical techniques employed for the analysis of food colours are validated HPLC, UV-Visible spectrophotometry, and Mass spectrometry methods. Coupled Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) techniques have led to highly sensitive methods for determination of food colours in different food matrices. For this reason, the understanding of such analytical methods has ensured compliance toward regulatory limits; Inturn, food safety standards within the global food chain supply.

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