Cakes, candy, to ice cream can be served with attractive colors thanks to food coloring ingredients. Although it gives a tantalizing appearance, but the use of this kind of coloring, especially artificial coloring, is feared to be a danger in itself because of its chemical content.
Food coloring can be in the form of powder, liquid, gel, until paste. The main goal is to change the color of the original food into the desired colors. Besides being used for industrial and home-based food manufacturing, food coloring is also often used in the world of handicrafts, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Its use must go through a rigorous examination because there are some food dyes that contain toxins or are at risk of causing health problems. Some artificial food coloring is believed to be associated with an increased risk of ADHD, brain tumors, behavioral disorders in children, to cancer, although this still requires further proof.
Make Your Own Natural Food Coloring
The good news, there are natural food coloring that can be made at home using ingredients that are easily available in the kitchen. This natural food coloring consists of four main categories derived from plant pigments, known as chlorophyllin, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and betanin.
These dyes are basically derived from certain plants or materials, such as caramelized sugar, reddish orange coloring from achiote seeds which are plants from Mexico, lycopene in tomatoes, turmeric for yellow, or paprika.
If you are interested in making your own natural food coloring, here are the steps that can be done using fruits and vegetables.
Vegetable
The green color of plants such as spinach and various tubers, such as beets or carrots can be a good choice as food coloring. This is because the plant has a dark and concentrated color. However, other green vegetables such as celery, even though they are dark in color but contain too much water so it is difficult to produce good colors.
Red can be obtained from beets, and orange from carrots. While the purple color can be obtained from red cabbage and yellow from turmeric. The processing method is not difficult.
First, boil the vegetables until the color is mixed with water. This water will then become a dye. If the color sticks to the fingers when dipped in this cooking water, then the vegetable is used as a coloring agent. Use a little water for a darker color and add water for a lighter color.
The vegetables are then dried by putting them in the oven without burning them at a temperature of around 65 degrees Celsius, for at least 5-6 hours. To speed up the process, vegetables can be cut into thin slices. Although the process takes a long time, but the dried vegetables can be kept stored in airtight containers for several months. After that, dried vegetables can be ground into powder. Smooth texture can be obtained by processing it with a coffee grinder.
If it is inconvenient, some vegetables and herbs can also be obtained already in powder form. This powder only needs to be mixed with water, then applied to food that will be colored.
Fruit
Although very brightly colored, some fruits are not suitable for use as food coloring. Fruits like oranges and lemons have clear liquids, so they don't stick to other foods properly. To choose good fruit as a food coloring, fruit in a blender or squeeze and pour the juice into a clear glass. Point the glass towards the lamp. The less light that can penetrate the glass, the better the fruit can be food coloring. Berries, such as strawberries, cherries and blueberries, are examples of fruits that are suitable for food coloring.
Choose fresh fruit to be mixed or processed with a juicer together with a little water. Be sure to peel the skin and remove seeds or unneeded parts. After becoming a juice, filter the fiber, small seeds and other fruit leftovers that are still left in the juice. Sometimes this juice can be used as a coloring agent. But if you want to get a firmer color, pour the juice into a frying pan, cook at a moderate heat. When the juice has turned into a thick paste, the juice is ready to be used as a natural food coloring.
Thanks to natural food coloring, food serving can look more beautiful without having to fear the risk of health problems.
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