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Absence of mutagenic activity and a short-term toxicity study of beet pigments as food colorants

✍ Scribed by Joachim H. Elbe; Steven J. Schwartz


Book ID
104735667
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Year
1981
Tongue
English
Weight
290 KB
Volume
49
Category
Article
ISSN
0340-5761

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✦ Synopsis


Beet colorant was tested for mutagenic activity in five S. typhimurium strains. The absence of mutagenic activity was found with or without S-9 rat liver fractions.

Groups of six rats were fed red beet colorant preparations containing 2,000 ppm betalains in the diet for 7 days. No significant differences were noted in body weight gains, feed consumption, or gross pathological alterations compared to the controls.

These preliminary toxicological results indicate the potential usage of betalain pigments as a food colorant, but further long term investigations are warranted.