High consumer demand has led global food color manufacturers and food companies to dramatically increase the development and use of natural colors. We have previously reported that avocado (Persea americana) seeds, when crushed in the presence of air, develop a red-orange color in a polyphenol oxidase-dependent reaction. The objective of this study was to identify the major colored compound in colored avocado seed extract (CASE). Column chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography were used to isolate the most abundant colored compound in CASE. This compound, henceforth referred to as perseorangin, was a yellow-orange solid. Structural analysis was performed using high-resolution mass spectrometry, and infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We determined that perseorangin is a glycosylated benzotropone-containing compound with a molecular formula of C29H30O14. Liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry-based metabolomic analysis of CASE and uncolored avocado seed extract showed that perseorangin was unique to CASE.
Keywords: Avocado seed; Benzotropone; Food color; Persea americana; Polyphenol oxidase.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.