Paste Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll paste is the concentrated oil soluble green colour obtained by solvent extraction of green plant material, sold as a dark green viscous paste rather than as a dry powder. The colouring principles are chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, magnesium porphyrin complexes carrying a long phytol side chain, accompanied in the crude extract by carotenoids, waxes and plant lipids that are partly removed during refining.
Native chlorophyll is not a robust colourant. The magnesium at the centre of the porphyrin ring is displaced by hydrogen under mild acid to give the dull olive brown pheophytin, and this happens readily during thermal processing or in an acidic product. For that reason much of the trade is in the copper complexes, in which magnesium has been replaced by copper to give a bright and far more stable blue green, and in the water soluble chlorophyllins obtained by saponifying off the phytol chain. The paste form covers the oil soluble members of this family.
The paste is miscible with fats, oils and organic solvents and is insoluble in water. It is standardised on total chlorophyll or total colouring matter and is stabilised against oxidation, since the porphyrin ring is degraded by light and air. It is normally warmed and dispersed into the fat phase of a formulation rather than added cold.
We source bulk Paste Chlorophyll from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Colorant
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Dark green viscous paste |
| Odour | Characteristic vegetal, free from rancid note |
| Total Copper Chlorophyll | 4.0% minimum |
| Identification | Absorption maximum at 405 to 410 nm in chloroform |
| Free Ionic Copper | 200 mg/kg maximum |
| Total Copper | 8.0% maximum of total colouring matter |
| Loss on Drying | 2.0% maximum |
| Sulphated Ash | 5.0% maximum |
| Residual Solvent, acetone | 50 mg/kg maximum |
| Residual Solvent, hexane | 25 mg/kg maximum |
| Lead | 2 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 3 mg/kg maximum |
| Mercury | 1 mg/kg maximum |
| Total Plate Count | 1000 cfu/g maximum |
Common Markets Grades
The paste family divides by chemistry. Native chlorophyll paste, standardised at roughly 3 to 10 percent total chlorophyll, gives a natural yellow green and is used where authenticity matters more than stability. Copper chlorophyll paste, in which the magnesium has been exchanged for copper, is standardised at 2 to 6 percent copper chlorophyll and gives a stronger, bluer and much more stable green; specifications state both the copper chlorophyll content and the free ionic copper, which is limited.
Alongside the pastes, the water soluble sodium copper chlorophyllin powders run at 4 to 20 percent copper chlorophyllin for aqueous products, and dispersible emulsions are made where a green is needed in a water continuous system without the handling of a paste. Within the paste grades the remaining variables are the botanical source, the carrier oil and the extraction solvent used. The source, usually alfalfa, nettle or grass, sets the a to b chlorophyll ratio and the underlying shade, and the solvent matters because residual solvent limits differ between acetone, ethanol and hexane routes.
Applications
- Oils, flavoured oils and dressings, where the paste disperses directly into the fat phase
- Fat based confectionery fillings, compound coatings and mint creams
- Chewing gum, both in the mass and in the coating
- Ice cream and frozen desserts in pistachio, mint and matcha styled products
- Cheese and dairy analogues requiring a green tint
- Herb flavoured sauces, pesto style products and marinades
- Alcoholic liqueurs and flavoured spirits, using the alcohol soluble grades
- Bakery fillings, icings and decorated products applied after baking
- Soaps, cosmetics and personal care products, a long established use of the copper complexes
- Pharmaceutical coatings and internal deodorant preparations based on chlorophyllin
China Manufacturers of Paste Chlorophyll
Top Paste Chlorophyll manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Status differs between the two major markets and between the native and copper forms. In the European Union chlorophylls and chlorophyllins are the food colour E 140 and the copper complexes of chlorophylls and chlorophyllins are E 141, both authorised under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 with identity and purity criteria in Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 that limit free ionic copper and residual extraction solvents. The European Food Safety Authority has re-evaluated the group and both remain authorised for the categories listed in the annexes.
In the United States the position is much narrower. There is no colour additive listing permitting chlorophyll or copper chlorophyll to be used generally to colour food. Sodium copper chlorophyllin is listed as a colour additive exempt from certification with its use restricted to citrus based dry beverage mixes, and a separate listing covers its use in certain drug and cosmetic applications. A green shade for the United States market is therefore normally built from an authorised yellow and blue rather than from chlorophyll. JECFA has adopted specifications for chlorophylls and their copper complexes and provisions appear in the Codex General Standard for Food Additives.
Manufacturing Process
Green plant material, in practice alfalfa, nettle or dried grass, is harvested, dried at a controlled temperature and milled. The meal is extracted with a permitted organic solvent, acetone, ethanol or a hydrocarbon, in a countercurrent percolation system. The miscella is filtered to remove fines, then concentrated in a vacuum evaporator with the solvent recovered and recycled, and stripped under high vacuum until residual solvent is within the specification limit. What remains is a crude dark green paste of chlorophyll together with carotenoids, waxes and lipids.
For the copper complex the crude paste is treated with a copper salt, usually copper sulphate, under controlled temperature and pH so that copper displaces magnesium in the porphyrin ring, and the reaction is tracked spectrophotometrically because the absorption maximum shifts as the exchange proceeds. The batch is then washed to remove unreacted copper salts, since free ionic copper is limited by specification, and the product is standardised with vegetable oil to the declared colouring matter content and packed under nitrogen away from light. Water soluble chlorophyllin is made instead by saponifying the extract with alkali, which cleaves the phytol ester and gives the sodium or potassium salt, followed by precipitation, washing and spray drying.
