Organic colors have recently seen an upswing, as consumers seek products without artificial or synthetic ingredients. But natural hues must meet quality and stability standards in order to be successful.
Food-grade dyestuffs can be highly susceptible to changes in pH, light, and temperature and over time can settle or degrade over time, just like any food ingredient. In order to overcome these challenges, manufacturers have turned to innovative chemistry solutions.
Color Theory
Color can be an immensely powerful creative tool, from the zesty zest of a lemon-yellow kitchen that wakens you in the morning to a bedroom featuring relaxing shades of azure that bring serenity. No matter if you work as an interior decorator, graphic designer or visual artist – understanding color theory will elevate your work from ordinary to extraordinary!
Historically, traditional color theory relied on the Munsell primary colors of red, yellow and blue (RYB), now more frequently referred to in digital technologies as RGB.
Isaac Newton first introduced scientific-based color theory with his 18th century publication of Opticks. Newton demonstrated how light can be refracted through prisms to reveal distinct colors, which became the cornerstone of color theory naming and formalization. Today there are numerous books devoted to color theory covering topics like mixing, harmony, symbolism and even guides for identifying specific hues in nature!
Pigments
Natural colors come from foods such as fruits, vegetables and minerals and their hue is determined by how their molecules interact with light.
Titian utilized vermilion, an historical pigment derived from cochineal insects, in his oil paintings Assunta and Miracle of the Slave. Tintoretto included water-soluble carmine–derived from female cochineal insect saliva–into his works including The Slave and Self Portrait.
Organic pigments and dyes are composed of organic molecules containing acidic functional groups known as ligands, which allow the pigments to deprotonate into salts and metal cations that give stability against heat, oxygen and light for applications such as food coloring.
Light Absorption
Color is determined by their selective absorption and reflection of certain wavelengths of light. For instance, sapphire’s signature blue hue results from its absorption of red- and green-wavelength light while reflecting back blue light; similar mechanisms contribute to plants such as tomatoes, carrots, or spirulina’s vivid colors.
Natural color composites work similarly on satellite imaging platforms. The blue, green and red channels of Landsat 5 “3, 2, 1” image combine to produce a true color composite that represents how signs on the ground would appear to human eyes: healthy vegetation should have light hues while darker areas could indicate unhealthy vegetation patches.
Natural colors differ from pigments in that they come from living sources like fruits, vegetables, herbs, seeds and minerals that provide food-grade solutions. Natural colors may not be as stable when exposed to high temperatures or pH changes in products; carotenoids found in paprika and turmeric coloring agents for instance can be affected by environmental conditions during harvesting, transportation and storage processes.
Structure of Objects
Structure can impact how light interacts with objects. Nanoscale structural arrangements on insects’ wings or bird feathers, for instance, may produce different colors than would otherwise be generated solely through pigmentation alone. Peacock feathers’ bright hues do not originate from any pigmentation but instead from microscopic lamellae that scatter light iridescence.
Structural colors can outlive pigmentary hues by millions of years after an organism dies – for instance, iridescent mother-of-pearl shells from Oklahoma dating back as far as the Late Carboniferous period have been found.
These vibrant natural hues outshone any synthetic chemical dyes! Perfect for reminding consumers about a brand’s natural, sustainable values – like this design that uses earthy tones for forest imagery – or check out this mood board for even more inspiration.
