Abstract
Anthocyanins are unique plant pigments since they are critical for most of the red, purple and blue pigmentation of flowers, fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, they are reactive in nature, anthocyanins degrade easily, or react with other compounds such as reactive metals such as iron, aluminum, and tin in the media, toform colorless or brown colored by products. Anthocyanins are glycosides of anthocyanidins (aglycones) and sugars. Anthocyanidins are almost always glycosylated in the 3-position, though glycosylation in other positions and in more than one position at a time is also encountered. Furthermore, the sugar moiety may be acylated with aliphatic or aromatic acids. Anthocyanidins are less in number but anthocyanins show much diversity offered by glycosylation and acylation. 635 anthocyanins were identified in nature, featuring six common aglycones and various types of glycosylations and acylations. Reports suggest that dietary consumption of anthocyanins is good for health. Based upon many cell-line studies, animal models, and human clinical trials, it has been suggested that anthocyanins possess anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic activity, cardiovascular disease prevention, obesity control, and diabetes alleviation properties,all of which are more or less associated with their potent antioxidant property. Evidence suggests that absorption of anthocyanins occurs in the stomach and small intestine. Epithelial tissue uptake seems to be highly efficient, yet transportation into circulation, tissue distribution, and urine excretion are very limited.The bioactivity of bioavailable anthocyanins should be a focus of future research regarding their putative health-promoting effects.
Highlights
Anthocyanins are flavonoid group of phytochemicals common in teas, honey, wines, fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, cocoa, and cereals
The primary members in this group include the anthocyanins like cyanidin, pelargonidin, petunidin, the flavonols, flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, and, sometimes classified separately, the isoflavones
The anthocyanins are subdivided into the sugar free anthocyanidin aglycones and the anthocyanin glycosides
Summary
Anthocyanins are flavonoid group of phytochemicals common in teas, honey, wines, fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, cocoa, and cereals. The primary members in this group include the anthocyanins like cyanidin, pelargonidin, petunidin, the flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol), flavones (luteolin, apigenin), flavanones (myricetin, naringin, hesperetin, naringenin), flavan-3-ols (catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin), and, sometimes classified separately, the isoflavones (genistein, daidzein). They are commonly referred as bioflavonoids due to their multifaceted roles in human health maintenance and anthocyanins in food are typically ingested as components of complex mixtures of flavonoid components (Skibola and Smith, 2000).
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