METHOD OF PREPARING RED FOOD COLORANT FROM FRUIT ANTOCYAN-CONTAINING MATERIAL AND APPARATUS FOR METHOD EMBODIMENT Russian patent published in 2001 - IPC

FIELD: food industry. SUBSTANCE: raw material is dried and subjected to extraction of coloring matters with 50% aqueous ethanol by way of double exchange with raw material. Extract solution is filtered and concentrated in two steps. Concentration is first carried out in vacuum apparatus at 40-60 C to give primary concentrate. The latter is mixed with 1-2 vol.% of food emulsifier (glycerol monostearate). Concentrate mixture is transformed into foamy state by bubbling inert gas flow, after which foam mass is rapidly dried in thin layer on large plane surface under warm air glow. Resulting platy- structured solid product with 1-2% moisture content is without delay packed up under inert gas atmosphere in food-destination plastic package, e. g. in food polyethylene package. Apparatus assuring optimal implementation of proposed method, additionally to conventional equipment, contains mechanism for foaming concentrated extract of colorant mixed with food emulsifier by bubbling inert gas flow; foam overflow facility; thin-layer foam drier; continuous warm air-supply device; and packing facility operated under inert gas atmosphere to pack up platy-structured solid food colorant concentrate into sealed elastic package. Invention allows preparation of red food colorant with fuller preservation of original properties of fruit material in final product associated with improved quality and increased stability upon long-time storage owing to essentially reduced moisture content (from 40 to 1-2%). EFFECT: improved preparation technology and quality of product. 3 cl, 1 dwg, 1 tbl, 3 ex