[New food dye from sorghum grain hull and its toxicological characteristics]

The chemical composition and biological action of a new food dyestuff separated from the grain sorhum film were studied. From 1 kg of the grain sorhum 169--248 g of the film are retrieved; and from this it is possible to obtain from 17 to 40 g of a flavonoid dyestuff that consists of cyanadine, quercitrol and pelargonidine. The dyestuff can be utilized in the food industry in preparing bisquit cream products, caramels and fruit starch jellies. Biological investigations with applied testing methods proved the dyestuff to be non-toxic: its introduction to animals for six months did not produce any morphological changes in the tissues of the liver, kidneys, thyroid and pancreatic glands, nor did it affect the content of glycogen in the hepatic tissues.