Extraction and Purification of Betacyanin Food Colorant from Amaranthus Plant

In this work, betacyanin food colorant were extracted from amaranthus by two different methods and purified with sephedex(LH20) and cellulose microcrystaline as solid phases. After extraction of colorant, spectrophotometric method was used for determination of extraction yield and quantification of colorant. Two extraction method was compared regarding to their content of the colorant and purity. High level colorant was observed in the methanolic extraction. But more colorant purity observed in acidic extracts. Applying the Sephadex column rised the purity to 3.6% for acidic and 8% for methanolic extraction. Final pure colorant was characterized by various spectroscopic techniques and high performance liquid chromatography.