Unusual pH – behavior of safflower extracts

Abstract

The isolation of yellow and red dyes obtained from the Safflower plant (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in an aqueous solution at different pH values was investigated. Safflower petals were extracted with water to remove the yellow pigment, and the red pigment was extracted from the petals with acidic and alkaline solutions. It turned out that the isolation of pigment occurred in a very wide range of pH (from 3 to 7). This feature, unusual for other natural dyes, is an advantage, because enables the use of Safflower dye in a wide range of food products, so as meat, fermented and unfermented milk, bakery and others.