Lis Kinga, Bartuzi Zbigniew
Department of Allergology, Clinical Immunology and Internal Medicine, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, ul. Ujejskiego 75, 85-168 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Jun 28;12(7):1357. doi: 10.3390/antiox12071357.
Color is an important food attribute which increases its attractiveness, thus influencing consumer preferences and acceptance of food products. The characteristic color of fresh, raw food is due to natural dyes present in natural food sources. Food loses its natural color during processing or storage. Loss of natural color (e.g., graying) often reduces the appeal of a product to consumers. To increase the aesthetic value of food, natural or synthetic dyes are added to it. Interestingly, the use of food coloring to enhance food attractiveness and appetizing appearance has been practiced since antiquity. Food coloring can also cause certain health effects, both negative and positive. Dyes added to food, both natural and synthetic, are primarily chemical substances that may not be neutral to the body. Some of these substances have strong antioxidant properties. Thanks to this activity, they can also perform important pro-health functions, including antiallergic ones. On the other hand, as foreign substances, they can also cause various adverse food reactions, including allergic reactions of varying severity and anaphylactic shock. This article discusses food dyes of plant origins with antioxidant properties (anthocyanins, betanins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and curcumin) and their relationship with allergy, both as sensitizing agents and immunomodulatory agents with potential antiallergic properties.
颜色是一种重要的食品属性，它能增加食品的吸引力，从而影响消费者对食品的偏好和接受度。新鲜生食的特征颜色归因于天然食物来源中存在的天然色素。食品在加工或储存过程中会失去其天然颜色。天然颜色的丧失（如变灰）通常会降低产品对消费者的吸引力。为了提高食品的美学价值，会向其中添加天然或合成色素。有趣的是，自古以来人们就使用食用色素来增强食品的吸引力和开胃外观。食用色素也会产生某些对健康有正负两方面影响的作用。添加到食品中的色素，无论是天然的还是合成的，主要都是化学物质，它们可能对人体并非中性。其中一些物质具有很强的抗氧化特性。由于这种活性，它们还可以发挥重要的有益健康的功能，包括抗过敏功能。另一方面，作为外来物质，它们也会引发各种不良的食物反应，包括不同严重程度的过敏反应和过敏性休克。本文讨论了具有抗氧化特性的植物源性食用色素（花青素、甜菜红素、叶绿素、类胡萝卜素和姜黄素）以及它们与过敏的关系，既作为致敏剂，也作为具有潜在抗过敏特性的免疫调节剂。
