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Color is one of the most important organoleptic properties of food which can influence on consumer preference. Due to health awareness, there is an increasing demand for natural food colorant over synthetic counterparts. Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) flower is remarkable as one of the most vital anthocyanin sources that gives characteristic blue color. Present research study focused on the identification of a best method to extract anthocyanin from Clitoria ternatea flower without destroying its functional properties. Accordingly, 3 methods: direct extraction (T1), blanching extraction (T2) and blanching extraction with addition of natural preservative (T3) were selected to extract anthocyanin from C. ternatea flower. The functional properties were assessed using standard methods. The sensory evaluation was carried out to assess the color, taste, aroma and overall acceptability using a nine-point hedonic scale. Food colorant extracted from T2 had higher flavonoid content (173.97 ± 7.8 mg/L) and total anthocyanin content (67.6 ± 29 mg/L) compare to the other two treatments. However, sample from T1 contained strong antioxidant properties since it had the least IC50 (44.14 ± 2.9 %) while showing highest phenolic content (48.49 ± 4.0 mg/L). Out of the three treatments, food colorant from T3 had higher color stability, higher shelf life (28 ± 2 days) and was highly accepted in terms of overall acceptability and color by sensory panelists. Therefore, it could conclude that food colorant gel from T3 is the best alternative for artificial blue colorants which is a natural extract without any health concerns.
