Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits

Anthocyanins are colored water-soluble pigments belonging to the phenolic group. The pigments are in glycosylated forms. Anthocyanins responsible for the colors, red, purple, and blue, are in fruits and vegetables. Berries, currants, grapes, and some tropical fruits have high anthocyanins content. Red to purplish blue-colored leafy vegetables, grains, roots, and tubers are the edible vegetables that contain a high level of anthocyanins. Among the anthocyanin pigments, cyanidin-3-glucoside is the major anthocyanin found in most of the plants. The colored anthocyanin pigments have been traditionally used as a natural food colorant. The color and stability of these pigments are influenced by pH, light, temperature, and structure. In acidic condition, anthocyanins appear as red but turn blue when the pH increases. Chromatography has been largely applied in extraction, separation, and quantification of anthocyanins. Besides the use of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural dyes, these colored pigments are potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various beneficial health effects. Scientific studies, such as cell culture studies, animal models, and human clinical trials, show that anthocyanidins and anthocyanins possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases. These studies confer the health effects of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, which are due to their potent antioxidant properties. Different mechanisms and pathways are involved in the protective effects, including free-radical scavenging pathway, cyclooxygenase pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and inflammatory cytokines signaling. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural food colorants and their nutraceutical properties for health. Abbreviations: CVD: Cardiovascular disease VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor

Anthocyanin pattern of several red grape cultivars and single-cultivar young wines

The anthocyanin pattern of 18 grape cultivars grown under the same conditions during several years, and also the anthocyanin pattern of wines made from them, using the same winemaking technology, has been studied by HPLC. Chromatographic data indicate that every grape cultivar present a characteristic anthocyanin pattern, that is reflected in wines made from them. Two-way ANOVA and variance component analysis point out that the anthocyanin pattern of grapes and wines is mostly affected by the genetic characteristics of grape cultivars. Moreover, the use of multivariate statistical analysis (principal component analysis and discriminant analysis) allows the classification of grapes and wines into several groups on the basis of their anthocyanin pattern, and shows that the anthocyanin pattern of young single-cultivar wines is related to the anthocyanin pattern of grapes used for winemaking. Results may be relevant for using the anthocyanin pattern of young single-cultivar wines as an analytical tool to determine the grape cultivar used to make them

Application of a DNA analysis method for the cultivar identification of grape musts and experimental and commercial wines of Vitis vinifera L. using microsatellite markers

A DNA-based method has been applied to the identification of several musts and wines using microsatellite markers. DNA was extracted from the solid phases of sixteen monovarietal and five multivarietal musts (mixtures of two musts down to a 4:1 proportion) and they were genotyped at seven microsatellites through a multiplex PCR reaction and automated fluorescent detection. PCR multiplexing was successful in monovarietal musts, but should be used with caution with at least some markers and in multivarietal musts. The same extraction and detection methods were unsuccessfully applied to the solid and liquid phases of five monovarietal commercial wines, even after using different concentration procedures. Nucleic acids presence was then studied in a recent must, during the fermentation process, and during the subsequent steps of winemaking. Genotyping was possible in the resulting experimental wine until decanting, when the particles in suspension were removed. These results suggest that wine authentication through DNA analysis is not possible in commercial wines, in the tested conditions