Bioscience Evidence 2026, Vol.16, No.4, 329-344 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 340 Bread is one of the most extensively studied applications. Taglieri et al. (2021) developed a functional bread using cooked purple-fleshed potato flour combined with citrus peel fiber. The purple potato imparted a stable natural purple color to the bread while retaining various acylated anthocyanins, predominantly malvidin- and petunidin-derived pigments. After baking, most anthocyanins remained detectable in the final product, resulting in bread with high antioxidant capacity. Moreover, consumers showed good acceptance of both the color and flavor of the product. These findings indicate that purple-fleshed potatoes can serve not only as natural colorants but also as functional ingredients for the development of specialty bread products. 7.3 Development of snack and convenience foods Colored potatoes are suitable for developing chips, French fries, crisps, puffed snacks, dried potato cubes, frozen products, mashed potatoes, and instant foods because their natural pigments can create visually distinctive products without synthetic colorants. Compared with conventional potato snacks, products made from red- and purple-fleshed potatoes generally exhibit higher antioxidant activity and more attractive colors. Natural antioxidants in purple potato snacks can also delay lipid oxidation during storage. However, raw materials for chip processing still require appropriate dry matter and starch contents, low reducing sugar levels, and acceptable frying color characteristics. Processing methods strongly influence anthocyanin retention. Frying, blanching, pre-drying, and drying treatments all reduce anthocyanin contents, with the greatest pigment losses occurring during the final frying or drying stages. Compared with French fries and dried potato cubes, chip processing generally retains more anthocyanins, and omitting blanching can further improve pigment retention (Rytel et al., 2021). Conventional frying and drying processes may damage nutritional compounds and sensory quality; therefore, future development of colored potato products should increasingly adopt baking, microwave treatment, and other mild processing technologies (Saini et al., 2023). 7.4 Development of natural colorants and functional ingredients Purple and red potatoes are promising raw materials for anthocyanin-based natural colorants, whereas yellow-fleshed potatoes are more suitable for carotenoid-oriented nutritional enrichment. Anthocyanins in purple potatoes are mainly composed of cyanidin, delphinidin, and malvidin derivatives, while red potatoes are dominated by pelargonidin derivatives. Anthocyanin concentration is highest in potato peels, followed by whole tubers, while flesh generally contains lower levels. Therefore, potato peels, small-sized tubers, and processing by-products can serve as valuable sources for pigment extraction and nutrient-rich powder production. Processed products prepared from unpeeled colored potatoes generally contain higher levels of polyphenols, proteins, dietary fiber, and anthocyanins. However, potato peels also contain higher concentrations of glycoalkaloids, requiring appropriate safety control during utilization. Aqueous extracts from colored potatoes have demonstrated antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities. They also showed acceptable sensory properties and maintained good color stability for 30 days when applied in soft drink formulations, indicating practical potential as natural food colorants (Sampaio et al., 2021a). Extraction efficiency is influenced by both extraction methods and genotype. In one study, 70% ethanol extraction showed better performance than 70% methanol extraction, while significant differences in total phenolic and flavonoid contents were observed among cultivars. After optimized extraction and resin purification, anthocyanin yield reached 84.47 mg C3GE/100 g DW (Han et al., 2024). Despite their potential, the development of colored potato-based natural colorants and functional ingredients still faces several challenges, including high extraction costs, reduced pigment stability outside the original food matrix, large variation in pigment content among genotypes, and the lack of standardized raw material criteria and quality evaluation systems. Future efforts should focus on improving extraction efficiency, enhancing pigment stability, and establishing standardized quality control systems to support commercial-scale applications.
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