The effect of pigment matrix, temperature and amount of carrier on the yield and final color properties of spray dried purple corn (Zea mays L.) cob anthocyanin powders

- Spray drying produced high quality purple corncob color powders.
- The amount of carrier had biggest impact on spray dried pigments yield and color.
- High inlet temperature led to more polymeric pigments formation during spray drying.
- Input pigment matrix affected the haze of the reconstituted pigments solution.
- Pigment composition was not significantly affected by the thermal spray drying.

Spray drying is an economic technique to produce anthocyanin-based colorants. High pigments yields with minimum color degradation are desirable to maximize quality and profits. This study evaluated the impacts of purple corncob (PCC) anthocyanin extraction matrices (hot water, 40% ethanol, C18 purified), drying inlet temperature (130, 150, 170 °C) and amount of carrier (2%, 5%, 10% maltodextrin) on the yields and quality of PCC anthocyanin powders. Monomeric and polymeric anthocyanins, color properties (CIELch, haze), and pigments composition before and after spray drying were determined.The yield and final color quality of spray dried PCC anthocyanins were affected (p < 0.05) by all parameters evaluated. The pigment matrix, inlet temperature, and carrier amount had biggest impacts on product water solubility, pigments degradation and yield, respectively. The optimal combination of hot water extracts spray dried with 5% maltodextrin at 150 °C gave the highest pigment yield (∼90%) with good solubility with the least color loss.