Influence of EDTA on stabilization of decarboxylated betalains

Betalains are known to be very sensitive to several factors, including higher temperature, therefore, the studies on their stability are essential for the food industry. In order to determine the stability of betanin derivatives during thermal treatment, a set of degradation experiments was performed, including the protective infl uence of EDTA as a chelating agent. The pigments were dissolved in aqueous solutions of acetonitrile, methanol and ethanol. The studies on thermal degradation of the pigments confi rmed their high lability in all investigated solvents. Under the infl uence of protective activity of EDTA, the rate of the degradation of the decarboxylated betalains was substantially decreased. The analysis of obtained absorption spectra of the degradation products indicated that under the infl uence of EDTA, the products retained the basic chromophoric skeleton.