Background: The demand for natural coloring and preservative agents in food industry is increasing day by day as a result of awareness of the negative health effects of synthetic color preservatives. Consumers want foods with less processing, a longer shelf life, and clear labels that list only natural ingredients and food additives with familiar names that promote good health. In order to meet consumer demands and regain consumers' confidence in the safety of food products, the food industry was compelled to search for natural alternatives with strong antibacterial and antioxidant properties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to produce a microbial pigment that not only serve as food coloring agents but also provide health advantages owing to their bioactivities. Additionally, the potential use of anthraquinone pigment (AQP) as a natural food preservative compared to gamma irradiation was also examined to extend the shelf life of the beef burger and improve its hygienic quality.
Results: This study used Talaromyces purpureogenus AUMC2603 to produce the red natural pigment, which was identified as an anthraquinone pigment (AQP). According to the results, gamma (γ) radiation had no significant effect on AQP's antibacterial properties. However, it has a negative, considerable effect on antioxidant activity, where a large dose of γ-ray may change the antioxidant components and lessen the AQP's capacity to scavenge free radicals. Additionally, the γ ray-treated AQP had a strong cytotoxic activity in relation to a high γ-ray dose. As a result, it is suggested that AQP-containing foods should not be irradiated. The extracted AQP was applied as a food additive to improve the quality and increase the shelf life of beef burgers. Significant antibacterial and antioxidant action has been shown at 2% (w/v) AQP. The findings demonstrated that the treatment of beef burger with AQP decreased the initial total bacterial count and psychrophilic bacteria and extended the shelf-life of beef burger in comparison to the control (beef burger with no addition of AQP, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) or gamma radiation treatment). On the other hand, there was no substantial difference in the overall amount of mold and yeast or coliform at zero time. According to sensory characteristics, beef burgers had a shelf life of 6 days for controls and 9, 12, and 15 days for AQP-treated samples at 0.5, 1 and 2%, respectively, compared to γ- irradiated samples, 9 and 21 days, at 3 and 5 Kilo Gray (KGy), respectively.
Conclusions: This research provides a natural red pigment from Talaromyces purpureogenus with potent biological activities as antimicrobials and antioxidants to be applied as coloring, additive, and preservative agent in the food industry. Also, the tested pigment offers a powerful alternative to gamma irradiation for extending the shelf life of food products.
Keywords: Anthraquinone; Food irradiation; Food preservative; Natural pigment; Talaromyces purpureogenus.
© 2022. The Author(s).