Effect of Extractant on the Color Characteristics of Natural Colorant Extracts

Natural colorant extracts were obtained by extraction from tumeric root, gardenia seeds, mugwort and green tea using water, methanol, ethanol and acetone as extractants at room temperature for 3 hours under shaking condition(180rpm) with liquor ratio(solid:solvent; 1:100). The main pigment components of tumeric root, gardenia seeds, mugwort and green tea are known to be curcumin, crocin, chlorophyll b and epigallocatechin gallate, respectively. The effects of the kind of extractant and pH on the color characteristics of natural colorant extracts were investigated. The solubility parameters of pigment components were determined to find adequate extractant. The solubility parameters of curcumin, crocin, chlorophyll b and epigallocatechin gallate were found to be 27.85, 29.40, 19.48 and . As expected, solvents that have a solubility parameter similar to that of pigment component were generally found to be effective to obtain pigment extracts having high visible absorbance(A). The extract(pigment/solvent) with high visible absorbance was generally found to have low (lightness) and high Chroma(, purity).