Organoleptic Evaluation of Beetroot Juice as Natural Color for Strawberry Flavor Ice Cream

The demand for natural food colorants is increasing because of public awareness of their health benefits. Betalains are nitrogen-containing plant pigments whose colors range from red-violet betacyanins to yellow betaxanthins. They are used for coloring dairy products, meat and frozen desserts. An investigation was carried out to find the acceptable level of beetroot juice as a natural coloring agent for ice cream and assess the sensory scored of the resultant product. Beetroot juice was incorporated at different level in strawberry flavor ice cream. Prepared ice cream was subjected to sensory analysis and found out the optimum level of inclusion of beetroot juice in the ice cream preparation. Then sample were stored at -29°C and studied for their sensory scores at weekly intervals.