Gomphrena globosa L. as a novel source of food-grade betacyanins: Incorporation in ice-cream and comparison with beet-root extracts and commercial betalains

Currently, there are some examples of natural colourants with commercial use. However, these colourants are usually under-exploited, besides being obtained from a reduced number of plant or algal species. Accordingly, we propose using betalains obtained from an alternative plant species, Gomphrena globosa, which have a powerful colouring activity besides being strong antioxidants, as a novel ice-cream colourant. For comparison purposes, other ice-cream formulations were prepared, namely without colourants, added with commercial betalain or with Beta vulgaris extract. Besides evaluating the colour parameters L*, a* and b*, the nutritional parameters, individual sugars and fatty acids profiles were also studied. These parameters were evaluated throughout time, up to a maximum of 60 days of freeze (−22 °C) storage. Betacyanin quantification of each formulation was also performed to determine its maintenance along storage. In general, ice-creams prepared with G. globosa were similar (considering nutritional, colour, individual sugars and fatty acids profiles) to those including B. vulgaris extract, thereby validating the suitability of this alternative plant as a source of food colourants, particularly as ice-cream colourants. Furthermore, the positive effects induced by the addition of this natural colourant were maintained throughout storage time, as indicated by the markers distribution in the linear discriminant analysis.