Natural pigments provide a range of appealing colors to flowers, fruits, and vegetables while exhibiting potential beneficial health effects. In contrast, synthetic food colorants are often suggested to be associated with adverse health effects yet are known to have relatively high color stability during processing and storage. Unlike artificial colorants, natural pigments are somewhat unstable and susceptible to chemical and enzymatic degradation, leading to enhanced color loss. Therefore, their use as pigments is constrained, and stabilization by hydrocolloids is being explored. In addition to the texturizing properties of hydrocolloids, they can interact with natural pigments, affecting their stability. Therefore, hydrocolloids can improve the chemical and physical stability of pigments, resulting in enhanced color stability. This review summarizes up-to-date information regarding the stabilization of natural pigments such as anthocyanins, betalains, carotenes, C-phycocyanins, and chlorophylls, using hydrocolloids, in relation to the hydrocolloid properties, pigment structure, and stabilization methods and mechanisms.

天然色素为花卉、水果和蔬菜提供一系列吸引人的颜色，同时表现出潜在的有益健康作用。相比之下，合成食品着色剂通常被认为会对健康产生不利影响，但已知其在加工和储存过程中具有相对较高的颜色稳定性。与人造着色剂不同，天然色素有些不稳定，容易受到化学和酶降解的影响，导致颜色损失加剧。因此，它们作为颜料的用途受到限制，并且通过亲水胶体稳定正在探索中。除了亲水胶体的纹理化特性外，它们还可以与天然色素相互作用，影响其稳定性。因此，亲水胶体可以提高颜料的化学和物理稳定性，从而增强颜色稳定性。本综述总结了使用亲水胶体稳定天然色素（如花青素、甜菜红素、胡萝卜素、C-藻蓝蛋白和叶绿素）的最新信息，涉及亲水胶体的性质、色素结构以及稳定方法和机制。