Why does water color go red when you boil maizes or lentils? Is it bad?

Question

I was boiling two maizes in a pot. After about twenty minutes the water inside the pot became red-colored. Also, some days before that, I was boiling lentils and the same happened.
Why did this happen and is this water safe to drink besides eating the maize and/or lentils?

Mark Wildon · Answer

This is probably due to anthocyanins present in the maize and lentils. Despite the possibly worrying sounding 'cyanin', anthocyanins are antioxidants and if anything, beneficial to one's diet. Anyway the amount of anthocyanins present in maize is far far less than in say red cabbage (see the table in the Wikipedia article), so I think you have nothing to worry about.

Answered by Mark Wildon on February 5, 2021

Why does water color go red when you boil maizes or lentils? Is it bad?

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