Enhanced Spirulina Extract for Sky Blue Shades in Confections

For confection product developers innovating naturally, it’s quite obvious that natural blue solutions are scarce compared to other hues readily available.

Anthocyanins

typically exhibit more on the purple side in confection applications

Huito fruit juice

isn’t FDA-approved

Butterfly pea flower extract

provides nice indigo shades

Spirulina-based food coloring can provide bright sky-blue shades, but developers should keep in mind two key factors: heat stability and low-pH environments. Both parameters in combination can be “double the trouble” and cause undesired effects like poor color stability or even precipitation (color loss).

Spirulina is extremely pH-sensitive, illustrated in the above example, when it shifts from sky blue to turquoise in the slightest pH adjustment. It is also extremely heat sensitive, which poses issues for developers working with hard boiled candy that is held at high temperatures through the production process. These developers can see color degradation and specking in hard candies when using standard Spirulina as a solution under harsh processing conditions. This challenge presented an innovation opportunity to Sensient’s R&D team, and they rose to the occasion.

We are proud to release the next extension of Sensient’s Natural Blue portfolio: Marine Blue, a spirulina-based sky-blue solution with enhanced stability and color performance.

MEET MARINE BLUE – SENSIENT’S OPTIMIZED SPIRULINA SKY BLUE SOLUTIONS

Marine blue blends also enable bright greens and beautiful fuchsia-purple hues, extending the natural rainbow even further with shades that evoke delicious and exciting confectionery flavors.

Trial Marine Blue Spirulina by requesting a sample here.