Articles
New biocolorant database for the quality control of natural colorants and products containing them
Article number
1361_22
Pages
189 – 194
Language
English
Abstract
A new digital biocolorant database in under development in BioColour project (BioColour bio-based dyes and pigments for colour palette) funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland.
The database supports biocolorant companies and offers quality tools also to authorities, laboratories, researchers, and all those working in the field of natural colorants and naturally coloured products.
It strengthens their traceability, the production and helps to detect adulterations and to maintain high quality.
To enhance the prerequisites for large-scale natural colorant production, and new applications, the database considers the entire production chain.
The correct identification and thorough knowledge of the raw material is the core.
Only the data from the studies with the securely identified biological source are included providing scientific pre-reviewed information about natural dye sources, their geographical origin, colorant and other secondary metabolite composition and their chemical characteristics.
The database consists of two parts.
The part A of the taxonomically structured database integrates information from taxonomy, botany, chemistry, and, to a lesser extent also genetics, about the dye sources, combining the strengths of each of these areas.
Using a tool, based on the traditional chemotaxonomical principles, one can make queries and comparisons e.g. about dye sources, colorant molecules and their characters.
The organisms, i.e. dye sources, are connected taxonomically to the part B. Using a tool, one can get information about visual colour (e.g.
CIELab-values) measured from the materials after different natural dyeing processes.
The traditional approaches are complemented by modern data science approaches, as a part of the prementioned data are utilized by data mining and machine learning methods to support in the quality analyses of biocolorants.
The database supports biocolorant companies and offers quality tools also to authorities, laboratories, researchers, and all those working in the field of natural colorants and naturally coloured products.
It strengthens their traceability, the production and helps to detect adulterations and to maintain high quality.
To enhance the prerequisites for large-scale natural colorant production, and new applications, the database considers the entire production chain.
The correct identification and thorough knowledge of the raw material is the core.
Only the data from the studies with the securely identified biological source are included providing scientific pre-reviewed information about natural dye sources, their geographical origin, colorant and other secondary metabolite composition and their chemical characteristics.
The database consists of two parts.
The part A of the taxonomically structured database integrates information from taxonomy, botany, chemistry, and, to a lesser extent also genetics, about the dye sources, combining the strengths of each of these areas.
Using a tool, based on the traditional chemotaxonomical principles, one can make queries and comparisons e.g. about dye sources, colorant molecules and their characters.
The organisms, i.e. dye sources, are connected taxonomically to the part B. Using a tool, one can get information about visual colour (e.g.
CIELab-values) measured from the materials after different natural dyeing processes.
The traditional approaches are complemented by modern data science approaches, as a part of the prementioned data are utilized by data mining and machine learning methods to support in the quality analyses of biocolorants.
Authors
A. Primetta, R. Räisänen
Keywords
natural dyes, natural colorants, quality, authenticity, traceability, chemotaxonomy
Groups involved
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