Effect of Protein Hydrolysates from Limonia (L.) acidissima and Citrullus (C.) lanatus on Anthocyanin Degradation

Anthocyanins are natural plant pigments and used extensively in many food and beverage formulations due to their atrractive red, blue, or purple color. However, this color is highly sensitive to light, and therefore unstable and degraded even in the presence of ascorbic acid. This leads to the loss in the bioactivity of anthocyanin and also loss in the color of food or beverages. Hence, the present study focuses on the preservation of anthocyanin from Syzygium cumini (L.) using natural preservatives such as Limonia acidissima (L. acidissima) and Citrullus lanatus (C. lanatus) seed protein hydrolyzates at elevated temperature (35°C/5 days). Different concentrations (0.04-2%) of L. acidissima and C. lanatus protein hydrolyzates were examined for its preservative action against 5% crude extract of anthocyanin from Syzygium cumini (L.) preservation. This concentration of protein hydrolyzates followed the first order of reaction. Both concentrations of protein hydrolyzates reduced the rate of change in absorbance. However, 2% concentration of C. lanatus protein hydrolyzate was found to be very effective in providing highestthe preservation of color. Therefore, the overall study highlights the preservation effect of L. acidissima and C. lanatus protein hydrolyzate.