Factors Affected in Food Pigmentation

Dr. Abhijeeta Nandha

Assistant Professor
Department of Biotechnology,

Kalinga University,

Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarhabhijeeta.nandha@kalingauniversity.ac.in

The colour/appearance of food is always used for attracting customers or consumers. The colour also indicates the good quality and freshness of the food. Those colour or
pigments are not only used to attract customers but also plays a very vital role inthegrowth and development of crop and are also involved in other metabolic activities. They also help the crop to develop resistance to biotic as well as abiotic stress. Different pigments like green, red, yellow, orange etc., have a function in capturinglight and helping crops to promote their growth. This also indicates that amplepigmentation will lead to a healthier and stronger yield. This pigmentation also plays
a vital role in adding sweetness to fruits. There is various factor which plays a major role in the development of pigmentationin fruits and vegetables. For example, temperature, humidity, air velocity andatmospheric pressure. Mostly during a hot day, the plant loses a great amount of water in formof
Transpiration. This transportation rate can help to determine the moisture content of
the air, which is also known as relative humidity. If the relative humidity is higher
then the crop most probably has more salable weightage, good in appearance, havehigh nutritional value and flavour. When the relative humidity is less, the plant startedto wilt and this nutritional parameter will be affected. This parameter also depends onthe surface area by volume ratio of the crop. Increased ratio of surface-to-volume canalso have other side effects like injury in the crop, immature product, damaged byanexternal force, etc. Increased temperature with reduced relative humidity and highair
velocity can help increase crop transpiration rates.
High temperatures can increase the process of pigmentation by increasing respiration. These can also increase the process of ripening. For some crops, these canbebeneficial as they can enhance the flavour in a short time. However, for some crops
increased temperature is not desirable as it also reduced the shelf-life of the product. Thus a lower temperature is more advisable for the storage of product and it canalsoreduce the chances of contamination or microbial infection. Key words: Crop, Productivity, Temperature, Relative humidity, pigmentation
Referances:
1) Hardenburg, R.E., A.E. Watada and C.Y. Wang. 1986. The Commercial Storage of
Fruits, Vegetables, and Florist and Nursery Stocks. USDA-ARS AgricultureHandbook Number 66 (revised) 136p. 2) Khairia, A. N., Falaha, M. A. F., Suyantohadia, A., Takahashib, N. andH. Nishinab. Effect of Storage Temperatures on Color of Tomato Fruit (Solanumlycopersicum Mill.) Cultivated under Moderate Water Stress Treatment. Agricultureand Agricultural Science Procedia 3 ( 2015 ) 178 – 183. 3) Anonymus (2015). https://www.growerstrust.com/blogs/news/13206809-
importance-of-pigment-for-fruit-and-vegetable-sales
4) Koshita, Y. (2014). Effect of Temperature on Fruit Color Development. AbioticStress Biology in Horticultural Plants. pp 47–58.