Tracking color and pigment changes in anthocyanin products

Anthocyanin pigments readily degrade during processing and storage of foodstuffs, which can have a dramatic impact on color quality and may also affect nutritional properties. Total anthocyanin pigment content and indices for polymeric color and browning are easily measured with simple spectrophotometric methods. Once individual pigments are identified, their changes can be monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Modern color instrumentation has made measurement of CIEL*a*b* indices practical and easy. Indices of lightness (L*), chroma (C*), and hue angle (h°) are particularly useful for tracking color change.