Sridevi Sivakami, P L2017-02-222017-02-222011https://ir.avinuty.ac.in/handle/avu/1704Plants are being used for improving the quality of diet and sustaining or regulating good health. Herbal medicines not only provides nutrients but also strengthen and supports the action of digestive system, speeding up the rate of proceeding food and improving the absorption of nutrients. Pigments found in plants play important roles in plant metabolism and visual attraction in nature. Major plant pigments include carotenoids, anthocyanins and other flavonoids, betalains and chlorophylls. They are also rich in flavonoids and other phenolic constituents. Their antioxidant activity makes them chemo preventive and adds various other medicinal values to them. For the present study, a market survey were conducted at Coimbatore city, Tamil Nadu to know about the availability of synthetic food colours in the market. Eight commonly available medicinal plants, namely annatto seeds, madar root, hibiscus flower, grape skin, wheat grass, curry leaves, spinach and tomatoes were selected. Hibiscus flowers and grapes skin colours had the maximum phenolic content of about 2.5 mg/lOOg followed by madar and wheat grass (Img/lOOg each) and annatto seeds (0.4 mg/lOOg). The antioxidant activity of hibiscus flowers were very high (1720 pg/g) followed by grapes skin (1600 pg/g). Madar root (372pg/g), annatto seeds (360pg/g) and wheat grass (344pg/g) had nominal values. The developed natural food colours were used in selected recipes.