Eco friendly packaging, Bio-colorants, Eco labeling

A number of consumers nowadays are environment-conscious and are demanding products delivered to them in eco-friendly and sustainable packages. As a result of the increasing consumer tastes, corporate demands, and potential government policies that may soon come into effect, environment-friendly packaging may not remain optional for a very long time. Streamlining your company’s packaging division with eco-friendly and sustainable packaging practices will not only help your company in reducing environmental footprint but also increase brand loyalty with today’s consumers as well.

1. Optimized usage of materials

Optimized usage of materials includes lower volume and mass (product to packaging ratio), the packaging layers reduced, the packaging itself reduced, and so on. With the help of softwares such as TOPS Pro and Cape Systems, one can to find out the optimal combination of the packaging material and the box size. Even if the products are of odd shapes and sizes, this software will be able to find out the combination with great accuracy. Instead of using the traditional bubble wrap, we may use the latest air cushion rolls. They are cost-effective, and able to save on storage space. Also, instead of using Styrofoam, which is bad for the environment, we may opt for new types of protective materials that are eco-friendly. These materials are crack resistant and have increased shock absorption capabilities.

2. Use materials that are recyclable and biodegradable

Materials such as cardboard, paperboard, and plastic can be reconstituted, and create new items. Both recyclable and recycled materials come from different sources, we can make them adapt to our packaging easily. Following are some of the materials that are biodegradable and recyclable.

·         Corn starch — Corn starch-made items are biodegradable. They are ideal for all types of food packaging. The package can be sent via post as well. Packages made out of corn starch have limited or no negative impact on the environment.

·         Cardboard and paper — They are biodegradable, recyclable, and reusable. Paperboards are lightweight, yet strong. They can be used to pack products ranging from medicines to frozen food to cosmetics. A pizza box constructed out of corrugated boards helps to retain the heat and 

• freshness of the pizza for a short time.
• Biodegradable plastic — When exposed to sunlight, the biodegradable plastic decomposes. It is also used to make envelopes that are usually used for bulk mailing. Biodegradable plastic is a viable and practical alternative to traditional plastics.
• Bubble wrap — Bubble wrap made out of recycled polyethylene is fully degradable. They help to keep your product safe.

3. Use innovative and unique materials

If we cannot avoid pictures or texts on your packages, then use inks made from milk proteins or food instead of using any chemicals that can cause harm to the environment. Soy inks, for instance, are more sustainable. Unlike petroleum-based inks, they come from a renewable source. They release zero VOCs. Soy ink-printed papers can be deinked easily. This makes the recycling process much easier. Using unique materials such as biodegradable plastic and Corn starch-made items also helps to minimize any environmental impact.

4. Reduced usage of energy

Plastic packaging can help with sustainability. First of all, it takes only less energy to manufacture plastic, compared to glass or aluminum or steel. Plastic is lightweight. When your product is placed in the plastic package, the overall weight will not increase significantly. For example, 10 gallons of juice can be stored in a 2-pound plastic container. The weight increases with aluminum or steel or glass containers. Lighter packaging amounts to less fuel in shipping. This helps to save energy.

5. Minimalist packaging

Using a big box for a small item does not make sense. It is a total waste of space and materials. What we can do is create custom packaging boxes for our products. This will help you to save materials and space all through the entire distribution process. A significant amount of wastage like this occurs in the warehousing and retailer levels. A minimalist packaging will not only set you apart from your competition but will also be appealing to the eco-conscious consumers as well.

6. Increased reuse and less spoilage

Poly bags can be used again and again. So, instead of just throwing it away, you can take it with you the next time you visit the supermarket. Reusability of packaging can help with sustainable packaging. The usage of returnable packaging is encouraged by Auto manufacturers to move items from their vendors to their automobile factories. Reusable bottles for beer, soda, and milk also make for environmental consideration when it comes to packaging. Creating higher quality bags and boxes encourage re-use, rather than being tossed away shortly after opening your product. This helps your customers remember your brand and product every time your packaging is re-used.

A few examples of sustainable and eco-friendly packaging

·         The paint and the high energy required to manufacture colored cans can be eliminated with naked cans, cans devoid of any color but has the name, logo, and other information embossed on them. The water and air pollution that happens during the coloring process can be avoided. Also, during the recycling process, it takes a lot of effort and energy to remove the colors from the aluminum cans. With naked cans, this process can be eliminated.

·         Traditional CD/DVD cases can be replaced by sustainable ones. A continuous strip that is detachable, and has the ability to adapt to the number of CDs/DVDs to be packaged, made out of recyclable/recycled cardboard, devoid of any adhesive.

·         Biodegradable packaging for meat. Treating the paper with waterproof starch will help to prevent discoloration and any damp spots.

·         The bag introduced by Puma to pack their shoes is a prime example of sustainable and eco-friendly packaging. The company structured a cardboard sheet and made the bag. This helped them to save 65% of cardboard. The bag has no laminated printing. It weighs less, which is a plus in the energy saving department, and takes up only less space. Also, 

·            the need for another bag to carry the shoe box is eliminated in this scenario.

Remember that ensuring your product’s packaging is environmentally friendly not only shows your company’s commitment to the customer, but also indirectly shows your consideration to the your community and environment as a whole. Impress your customers with innovative custom packaging that not only grabs their attention, but also sets an example to others how minimal, eco-friendly options can be especially effective in inspiring interest.

we can find out more options for creating custom eco-friendly packaging with PakFactory, a leading online packaging manufacturer, providing short-run custom boxes and packaging for startups.

Public consciousness about issues like climate change is influencing buying habits and consumer choices. Among the many desirable features, they choose products for their packaging. Increasingly, eco-friendly packaging isn’t just an Earth-friendly way to sell a product; it’s how to broadcast a company’s values and ethos.

Advantages of Eco-Friendly Packaging

Eco-friendly packaging goes by a few other names such as sustainable packaging, green packaging and environmentally-friendly packaging. To be eco-friendly, packaging can be biodegradable (but preferably compostable), recyclable, reusable, non-toxic, made from recycled products, based in biomass or natural products or manufactured through low-impact means. For instance, yogurt available in glass bottles is eco-friendly, while plastic containers are not. Glass meets the green packaging definition because it’s recyclable but also infinitely reusable. Unless it's broken, glass lasts for centuries.

How do Eco-Friendly Products Help the Environment?

Consider the glass yogurt bottle. It can be reused until some butter-fingers drops it, otherwise it gets easily recycled in most of the world. But to make that glass involves someone collecting silica – sand, which is facing a shortage worldwide – and trucking that sand to a factory. The truck uses gasoline and emits carbon dioxide, a “greenhouse gas” contributing to climate change. Then, turning that silica into glass requires electricity as well as other fuels to heat the furnace used to melt and form the glass. It requires machines to shape the glass, plus paper and inks to print and label the bottle.

Every time someone reuses the bottle, it’s one fewer time that whole process of using natural resources occurs. And every time someone recycles a glass bottle, it may still need energy and cause carbon dioxide pollution from trucking the bottles, melting them down and reforming them, but at least sand isn’t used, and that’s a resource that experts are increasingly saying needs conservation.

Eco-friendly products and packaging can be helpful in other ways, too. They may be biodegradable or made from more sustainable, faster-replenishing natural products like bamboo. Bamboo, for instance, can be harvested for paper and other materials every two-to-three years, versus upwards of 60 years for a new tree to grow. Simply using less packaging is also an excellent way to be eco-friendly.

Biodegradable Packaging Examples

By definition, “biodegradable materials are composed of waste from living organisms and the actual plant, animal or another organism when its life ends.”

So products made of paper, banana leaf, processed bamboo, vegetable fibers and food waste are examples of things that can be biodegradable, which means they will break down in a landfill. Even better for the environment are compostable products, which can be broken down in one industrial composting cycle but will enrich soil and provide a fertile place for other vegetation and flora to grow. Enriching soil quality is important as the world population increases because it dramatically affects our food production. Focusing on compostable products is a win-win solution. But while compostable products are always biodegradable, the reverse is not true.

Many big packaging companies are making biodegradable polymers, a kind of Earth-friendly plastic and resin, which use natural fibers in their creation. And forward-thinking companies like Level Ground Coffee are creating unique compostable products. Their fair-trade coffee beans are packaged in compostable bags that can be filled with soil and seedlings, planted in the garden and completely break down to enrich the soil. Recycled paper products can be made as compostable packaging or containers, like the {POST}MODERN compostable compost bin, for people who save food scraps for compost, which cities like Vancouver, British Columbia now require citizens to do.

There isn’t a fixed standard for what constitutes “biodegradable” packaging, and the result is that this term is used more casually by some companies whose products may break down, but not in the short-term as consumers may think. The Biodegradable Products Institute is a third-party non-profit who test and certify products as biodegradable and compostable, and they offer a searchable database that is free for public use to find products that meet these standards.

What Is Eco-Friendly Food Packaging?

Eco-friendly food packaging is getting exciting recently thanks to innovations that are inspiring packaging designers around the world. From store-bought products to take-out and delivery food, eco-friendly packaging can be integral to helping the environment.

People in their 40s can remember a time when McDonald’s used plastic-based foam containers for its marquee burgers like the Big Mac. McDonald’s was one of the first large companies to switch to paper-based products for takeout. Over time, they even stopped bleaching their trademark white paper bags; all that began in 1990. Today, McDonald’s is still a leader in the takeout industry and has gone on record with a pledge to have 100 percent of its packaging renewable, recyclable or certified sources by 2025.

Many restaurants in the takeout industry are switching to unbleached cardboard boxes with vegetable-based inks for branding, thanks to consumers being savvier about the impact of takeout packaging.

And products on store shelves are getting inventive updates, too. Companies like Carlsberg Brewing have tried paper-based "bottles" for beverages and other liquids with great success. Further innovation has led to things like plastic wrap for foods made from algae which replenish quickly in the sea.

Australia’s food packaging is some of the most innovative in the world. They embrace creative container design and new uses of products like paper, plant-based resins and other recyclables, but not just because they're forward-thinking. The Aussie government has mandated that 100 percent of the country’s food packaging must be recyclable, compostable or reusable before 2025.

Advantages of Using Eco-Friendly Products

Countries around the world are realizing they must act to reduce the impact that trash is having on the planet. When trash doesn’t biodegrade or compost, it’s a long-term problem they are forced to find space for. Non-friendly packaging is an eyesore and a logistical nightmare. A collaborative report from a few departments of the U.S. government listed the time it takes for some packaging to break down in the environment. They include:

• Glass bottle: 1 million years.
• Plastic beverage bottles: 450 years.
• Aluminum can: 80-to-200 years.
• Plastic bag: 10-to-20 years.

It’s not just Australia taking a strong stance. Morocco has already entirely banned plastic bags in the country. In Kenya, one faces a possible four-year jail term or a hefty fine for the use or sale of plastic bags. China has cracked down on plastic bags, too.

The point is that laws are changing and companies that don’t lead the way by embracing eco-friendly packaging now will soon be perceived as dinosaurs. By being a part of the solution today, it doesn’t just save the planet, it demonstrates corporate responsibility and states company values loud and clear.

The argument that going green with products and packaging is financially unprofitable for companies no longer holds water, either. A 2015 Nielsen study showed that 66 percent of global respondents were willing to pay more for enviro-friendly packaging, a number that has surely risen as consciousness has increased.

Even luxury brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are promoting their sustainable packaging. Trash is being turned into desirable, trendy furniture and other products. Sports industry leader Nike boasts that it has saved over 3 billion plastic bottles from reaching landfills since 2010, thanks to using recycled polyester in making clothing from plastic. It uses plastic to kit out the U.S. National Soccer Team, and every team uniform is made from at least 16 plastic bottles for its shirts, socks and shorts.

Society has learned the hard way that convenient packaging was inconvenient to the planet. Today, the best packaging is either part of a brave new future of using waste to make innovative products, as Nike has done, or a return to the old ways, making packaging so appealing it's reused endlessly. Both, it seems, are great strategies for companies playing to win.

Biocolorant

Color is the main feature of food, which determines it appeal to the consumers. Biocolorants are those coloring agents, which are obtained from the biological sources. Biocolorants are mainly derived from pigments like anthocyanidin, carotenoids etc., However, there are biocolorants, which are not pigments in any state like structural color and light emitting luciferin. Color is added to food for one or more of the following reasons: to replace color in the food, which is lost during processing, to enhance color of the food already present, to minimize batch-to-batch variations, to color otherwise uncolored food, and to supplement food with nutrients.

The chemistry of natural colours cannot fail to fascinate and intrigue and has become the most important part of any commodity. In the past few years, the availability and use of natural colorants has greatly increased as a consequence of perceived consumer preference as well as legislative action, which has continued the delisting of approved artificial dyes. The current consumer preference for naturally derived colorants is mainly because these are healthy and have good quality. Moreover, synthetic colorants tend to impart undesirable taste and are harmful to human beings, as these are responsible for allergenic and intolerance reactions. As a resulting, there has been a worldwide interest in the development of food colorants from natural sources7 & 8. The use of food colorants as additives in the food industry is highly useful for both food manufacturers and consumers in determining the acceptability of processed food. Currently, the European Union has authorized approximately 43 colorants as food additives, whereas approximately 30 colour additives are approved in the United States. In both Europe and the US, most of the listed colour additives are derived from natural sources

History of bio-colorants

From time immemorial, color has been an important criterion for acceptability of products like textiles, cosmetics, food and other items. In Europe, it was practiced during the Bronze Age. The earliest written record of the use of natural dyes was found in China dated 2600 BC. In Indian subcontinent, dyeing was known even in the Indus Valley period (2500 BC) and has been substantiated by findings of colored garments of cloth and traces of madder dye in the ruins of Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilization (3500 BC). In Egypt, mummies have been found wrapped in colored cloth. Chemical tests of red fabrics found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt showed the presence of alizarin, a pigment extracted from madder. The cochineal dye was used by the people of Aztec and Maya culture period of Central and North America. By the 4th century AD, dyes such as woad, madder, weld, Brazilwood, indigo and a dark reddish-purple were known . Brazil was named after the woad found there. Henna was used even before 2500 BC, while saffron is mentioned in the Bible. Use of natural biocolarants in food is known from Japan in the shosoin text of the Nara period (8^th century), which contains references regarding coloring soybean and adzuki-bean cakes. Thus, it appears that colored processed foods had been taken by the people of some sections during that period. According to Aberoumand and Mortensen, the study of color was intensified in the late 19th century with the aim to understand: · The phenomenon for survival of animals and plants, · The relationship between color and evolution theories; and · The role imparting in comparative physiology. Thus, studies on biocolorant were greatly impulsed by their multiple functions. The art of coloring spread widely with the advancement of civilization. Primitive dyeing techniques included sticking plants to fabric or rubbing crushed pigments into cloth. The methods became more sophisticated with time and techniques using natural dyes from crushed fruits, berries and other plants, which were used to boil with the fabric to give light and water fastness (resistance). Today, dyeing is a complex and specialized science.

The need for biocolorants

Colors derived from minerals (lead chromate, copper sulphate) may cause serious health problems and environment hazardous effects. Thus, in the last few decades, synthetic additives have been severely criticized, and consumers show reluctance towards these products, consequently they prefer to use the natural colorants. In the 1960s in the US, the environmental activists made several demonstrating against the use of synthetic colorants and this attitude was spread out widely. Activists campaigned for the natural colorants highlighting their nutritional characteristics as a sales tool. As a result, the number of permitted artificial colors has reduced considerably, and the interest of the consumers in natural colorants has increased significantly. Because of health and hygiene, nutrition, pharmaceutical activities, fashion and environmental consciousness, indicate relative dependency on natural products besides, of good market value fetched by the natural colored products , and as of now, natural colorants have become the major alternatives to synthetic colorants. Possible reasons for use of colorants in food substances are enumerated as under:

 · To maintain the original food appearance even after processing and during storage;

· To assure the color uniformity for avoiding seasonal variations in color tone;

· To intensify normal color of food and thus to maintain its quality;

· To protect the flavor and light susceptible vitamins making a light-screen support; and

· To increase acceptability of food as an appetizing item.

MARKET VALUE OF THE BIO-COLORANTS

Natural colors lost their appeal with the synthetic colors arrived on the scene, as they provide less consistency, heat stability and color range than their chemical alternatives. The market for natural carotenes has declined since the introduction of synthetic colour. Moreover, natural colors are more expensive and unstable in nature. The leading markets for natural colours in the EU are the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Recently, there is also a growing market in emerging economy countries like China, India and South Korea

The demand for natural colours is increasing day-by-day because of the following reasons:

· Increasing demand for natural food in comparison to synthetic one;

· Health-promoting properties of biocolorant food;

· Natural colours has been the consumer priority;

· Low-fat content‘ is the objective for many new or improved food formulations, replacing fats with thickeners or other food additives;

· Increased consumer preferences for organic food;

· Variety and internationalisation of food colour and flavours.

The market for natural food colours is estimated to increase by approximately 10% annually 28. Many of the raw materials for colours and flavours require growing conditions which are more favourable in countries outside the EU. This makes EU a large importer of colours and flavours. Total imports of natural colours, flavours and thickeners by the EU amounted to Euro 2,055 million or 475 thousand tonnes in 2008. Developing countries like India and china may play a major role in supplying natural colours either in processed forms or as raw materials to the EU markets, due to their favourable climatic and production conditions coupled with the rise in their middle income family. In essence, the message to consumers that "Natural is Better" is gaining popularity day-by-day. Although, natural colors are on the rise but they are unlikely to be a total replacement for synthetic dyes because the area of land required for production of natural colorants yielding plants increasing due to inadequate strategies and horticultural practices on this crops. It was estimated that to provide sufficient vegetable dyes to dye cotton alone, about 462 million ha would be needed, ie, 31% of the world‘s current agricultural land30, which appear unlikely. Thus, natural dyes is likely to occupy a small niche market, unless technology of horticultural practices and pigments extraction is redefined and standardisation on modern scientific lines.

choice of colour

Commonly single natural coloring agents may not give the desired effect, the background color and of neighbouring colored substances make a large impact in the color look. Product concepts, requiring blue or green, limit the choice from certified colors only. Bluish purple can be achieved with carmine, but it does not create a true blue. Annatto or turmeric tends to represent a cheese color or have an eggy tone compared with the bright color produced with the FD&C-yellow. Now-a-days, fluorescent colors are also getting importance in food industry as consumers favor foods to glow under conditions. Turmeric is highly fluorescent, thus it is commonly used in food. Normally, the physical and chemical properties of food product limit the choice of a colorant.

MAIN CHROMOPHORES AND THEIR POTENTIAL SOURCES

The colorants that occur naturally in food plants have been the source of the traditional colorants of raw as well as the processed food. However, they can also be obtained from microorganisms and animals, but few of them are available in sufficient quantities for commercial use as food colorant. Although, biocolorants are structurally much diversified and from a variety of sources, the three most important are: tetrapyrrols, tetraterpenoids, and flavonoids . The main pigments and their potential natural sources are discussed below.

Carotenoids, these are one of the most important groups of natural pigments. These are lipid-soluble, yellow–orange–red pigments found in all higher plants and some animals. Animals cannot synthesize carotenoids, so their presence is due to dietary intake. The most important carotenoids are carotenes which including (alpha carotene, beta-carotene, betacryptoxanthin, lutein, and lycopene) and xanthophyll including violaxanthin, neoxanthin, zeaxanthin and canthxanthin .

ß-Carotene is orange-yellow in color, oil soluble but can be made into a water dispersible emulsion. Carrot (Daucus carota) is a good source of ß-carotene36. But most ß-carotene for commercial use is now derived from algae. Oil palm, orange, apricot, mango, and peach and pepper38 contributed significantly in increasing ß-cryptoxanthin and ß-carotene concentrations of foods. Besides being used as colorants, carotenes are also used for nutritional purposes as provitamin A agents as in margarine where they also provide color or as dietary supplements.

Lycopene, being a precursor in the biosynthesis of carotene, it is found in plants containing carotene, usually at a very low (sometimes undetectable) concentration. Lycopene is an expensive pigment and is very prone to oxidative degradation which is much more so than carotene, but highly stable under a wide range of temperature and pH, hence used as common food colorant. It is available in liquid form or as coldwater dispersible powder. Though lycopene is found in abundance in tomatoes in large proportion, but was also identified in about 70 plant species including red pepper, Kapia pepper, onion, , Rosa rubiginosa (rose hip), Taxus baccata (yew), Calendula officinalis (marigold) and Citrullus lanatus (watermelon) also contain lycopene at low concentration. Further, red cabbage juice1 and carrot has long been a component of tomato blends, indicating that both contains appreciable quantities of lycopene.

Xanthophylls are oxygenated carotenes, derived from the Greek words for yellow and leaf . Orange to yellow colour of yew tree, Taxus baccata is due to rhodoxanthin of xanthophylls and Rubixanthin produces yellow colour in dog rose, Rosa canina .

Lutein is also a very common carotenoid. The name is derived from the Latin word for yellow (compare xanthophyll, vide supra). Marigold, (Tagetes erecta) flowers are by far the most abundant natural source for commercial lutein. Lutein is primarily found esterified with saturated fatty acids like lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic acid. Lutein is more yellowish-green than oil palm carotenes. Lutein is not allowed as a food colorant in the USA except for chicken feed. Lutein, is also found in Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L. var. giromontia), green vegetables like cabbage, parsley, spinach, etc. and some fruits.

Annatto, a yellow to orange color has been used for over two centuries mainly for colouring dairy products especially cheese and is derived from the outer layer of seeds of the tropical tree Bixa orellana. The chief coloring principle is the carotenoid, bixin and norbixin.The pH and solubility affect the color hue; the greater the solubility in oil, the brighter is the color. Water soluble, oil soluble, and oil/water dispersible forms of annatto are available. Norbixin is used to color cheese (e.g., cheddar) because it binds to the proteins. It may also be used to color beverages with neutral pH, e.g., flavored milk drinks, but not with low pH because of precipitation and it is slightly more reddish in application than β- carotene. Since it precipitates at low pH, it is also available as emulsion, an acid proof state. The food colorants obtained from paprika (Capsicum annuum) including red colour due to red carotenoids which are dominated by canthaxanthin and capsorubin and yellow colour imparted by xanthophylls includes ß-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin and ß-carotene. Their combination also produces a bright orange to redorange colour in food products. The oleoresin is oil soluble, when emulsified becomes water dispersible. The saffron coloring matter is crocin which is extracted from the dried stigmas and styles of the saffron plant, Crocus sativa. It is water soluble and considered as the most expensive colorant as well as spice. The flower is light purple with thread-like red stigma, is the valued material. The odour of saffron is sometimes described as sea air to express its color shade and fragrance. The color appears as a powerful yellow in applications such as saffron rice. Crocin also found in Cape jasmine or gardenia, Gardenia angusta fruits

Flavonoids, the flavonoids are a diverse group of polyphenolic compounds contribute to the yellow color of horticultural products. They are widely distributed in the plant kingdom and over 4000 structurally unique flavonoids have been identified in plant sources. These are divided into six different major classes (flavonols, flavanones, flavones, isoflavones, flavonols and anthocyanidins) based on differences in molecular backbone structure. Flavonols may to fade in strong light but flavones remain more permanent but paler in colour. The leading representatives of flavone pigments are apigenin, kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, luteolin, tricin, izoramnetin. The minor flavonoids are chalones - coreopsidoside and mareoside found in daisy family, aurones- sulphuroside in fustic, daisy family, genistein in pea family, osajin and pomiferin in Osage-orange, Maclura pomifera. Some of the major flavanoids are:

Quercetin is one of the most important flavonoids. The richest sources of quercetin are: apples, onions, plants of Cruciferae family, Sambucus nigra, in fact the main source of quercetin is from quercitron, isolated from the inner bark of an oak, Quercus tinctoria but it is also present in horse chestnuts, onion skins, tea and sumac, and Citrullus colocynthis.

Luteolin is one of the principle compounds of yellow dye, which produces the most vibrant and lightfast. The dye and weld or dyer‘s rocket (Reseda luteola) was cultivated for extraction of luteolin in northern Europe. Its major use was the dyeing of gold braid. The perennial plant saw-wort, Serratula tinctoria L. was also a yellow dye yielding plant due to the present of ecdysteroid = luteolin and luteolin-7-O glucoside content in the leaves. Anthocyanidins are the highly coloured flavonoids. Anthocyanins are the glycosides of anthocyanidins and are found more in plants than the parent anthocyanidins. Anthocyanins are a class of compounds belonging to phenolic substances widely distributed in vegetables, giving rise to the blue– purple– red–orange color of flowers and fruits. The name has been derived from two Greek words antho and cyaniding meaning flower and dark blue respectively. Until now, more than 540 anthocyanin pigments have been identified in nature, with most of the structural variation coming from glycosidic substitution at the 3 and 5 positions and possible acylation of sugar residues with organic acids. The most common anthocyanidins are cyanidin (redpurple), delphinidin (blue-purple), malvidin (deep purple), peonidin (red), petunidin (purple) and pelargonidin (orange-red), and the distribution of this pigment in the horticultural plants is not even. Some fruits contain a single type of anthocyanin (e.g. cyanidin in apple, cherry, fig, etc), some contain two major types (cyanidin and peonidin as cherry and canberry); or some with several anthocyanins giving a variety of colors like red, purple, yellow and blue as in grape or raspberry or strawberry. Anthocyanin are used to color a number of non beverage foods, including gelatin desserts, fruit fillings and certain confectionaries. Grape peel extract (enocianina) also imparts a reddish purple color to beverages. Garden Huckleberry (Solanum scabrum) contains petunidin and pelargonidin is found in Red radish (Raphanus sativus L.) roots and onion (Allium cepa) solid wastes and cyanidin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside is found in mulberry, Morus spp and coffee husk.

Benefits of biocolourants

 The use of bio-colorants may show benefits over synthetic colours. Natural dyes are less toxic, less polluting, less health hazardous, non-carcinogenic and non-poisonous and prevent chronic diseases such as prostrate cancer. In addition to this, they are harmonizing colours, gentle, soft and subtle, and create a restful effect. Most of them are water-soluble (anthocyanins), which facilitates their incorporation into aqueous food systems. These qualities make natural food colorants attractive. Above all, they are environment friendly and can be recycled after use. Thus, they attribute to food-both for aesthetic value and for quality judgement and also they tend to yield potential positive health effects, as they possess potent antioxidant and improve visual acuity properties. They have also been observed to possess antineoplastic, radiation-protective, vasotonic, vasoprotective, anti-inflam===mtory, chemo- and hepatoprotective activities.

Limitations of biocolorants

Biocolorants inspite of having several potential benefits, natural dyes have some limitations as well. Tedious extraction procedures of colouring component from the raw material, low colour value and longer time make the cost of dyeing with natural dyes considerably higher than synthetic dyes. Some of the natural dyes are fugitive and need a mordant for enhancement of their fastness properties while some of the metallic mordents are hazardous21. Besides, there are problems like difficulty in the collection of plants, lack of standardization, lack of availability of precise technical knowledge of extracting and dyeing technique and species availability. The use of these colorants in food products may also face some problems due to their instability during processing due to their sensitivity to temperature, oxygen, light and pH. They can also be decolourised or degraded during storage. Anthocyanin degradation and brown pigment formation cause color loss in food products. Curcumin is very prone to photobleaching and beetroot color has low heat stability. However, stability of these dyes can be maintained by adding dextrins additives extracted from tart cherries or maltodextrin extracted from Roselle as a stabiliser. It has been demonstrated that increased glycosidic substitution, and in particular, acylation of sugar residues with cinnamic acids, reduced water activity will enhance stability and anthocyanin pigments in dried forms can exhibit remarkable stability

Ecolabelling

"Ecolabelling" is a voluntary method of environmental performance certification and labelling that is practiced around the world. An ecolabel identifies products or services proven environmentally preferable overall, within a specific product or service category. GEN members operate some of the world's strongest ecolabels.

In contrast to "green" symbols, or claim statements developed by manufacturers and service providers, the most credible labels are awarded by an impartial third party for specific products or services that have been independently determined to meet transparent environmental leadership criteria, based on life-cycle considerations.

The roots of ecolabelling are found in the growing global concern for environmental protection on the part of governments, businesses and the public. As businesses have come to recognize that environmental concerns may be translated into a market advantage for certain products and services, various environmental declarations, claims and labels have emerged, such as natural, recyclable, eco-friendly, low energy, recycled content, etc. These have attracted consumers looking for ways to reduce environmental impacts through their purchasing choices, but they have also led to some confusion and scepticism. Unproven or irrelevant claims have been branded "greenwash".

GEN member ecolabels provide clarity for consumers and prove authenticity. From its beginnings in 1994, GEN has grown, in two decades, to embrace more than 33 organisations circling the globe, and stretching from Norway to New Zealand.

Types

The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) has identified three broad types of voluntary labels, with ecolabelling fitting under the strongest Type 1 designation.

TYPE I: a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third party programme that awards a license that authorises the use of environmental labels on products indicating overall environmental preferability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations

TYPE II: informative environmental self-declaration claims

TYPE III: voluntary programmes that provide quantified environmental data of a product, under pre-set categories of parameters set by a qualified third party and based on life cycle assessment, and verified by that or another qualified third party.