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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #220801
Title: Anthocyanins: Analysis and Distribution in Selected Medicinal Plants

Author
item WU, XIANLI - ACNC/UAMS
item Prior, Ronald

Submitted to: Popular Publication
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2008
Publication Date: 2/1/2008
Citation: Wu, X., Prior, R.L. 2008. Anthocyanins: Analysis and distribution in selected medicinal plants. Asian Chemistry Letters. 12(1):9-22.

Interpretive Summary: This review first discussed the recent advancement on analysis of a group of plant pigments – anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are widely distributed in plants and responsible for the bright color of flowers and fruits (e.g., the dark blue color of blueberry). From a nutrition standpoint, anthocyanins are found to be the strongest antioxidants in plants and may exert a wide array of bioactivities in disease prevention. Thus, understanding their distribution and concentration in plants is critical. However, most studies done so far focused on fruits and vegetables. Very few efforts have been put on medicinal plants. As we know, medicinal plants are sometimes edible and are considered as huge potential sources of human healthy foods. The second part of this review summarized the distribution of anthocyanins in selected medicinal plants for the first time.

Technical Abstract: Anthocyanins are water soluble plant secondary metabolites responsible for the blue, purple, and red color of many plant tissues. They have been shown to be strong antioxidants, and may exert a wide range of health benefits through antioxidant or other mechanisms. Anthocyanins occur primarily as glycosides of their respective aglycone anthocyanidin-chromophores. Aglycones are rarely found in fresh plant materials. Methods of analysis and identification of anthocyanins have varied from Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Paper Chromatography (PC) in early times to High Pressure Liquid Chromtography (HPLC) with photodiode array detection (PDA) [also called a diode array detector (DAD)], and then, to HPLC in tandem with Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). Over 600 naturally occurring anthocyanins have been reported, and they are known to vary in: 1) the number and position of hydroxyl and methoxyl groups on the basic anthocyanidin skeleton; 2) the identity, number, and positions at which sugars are attached; and, 3) the extent of sugar acylation and the identity of the acylating agent. Due to the important physiological roles they play in both pollination and seed dispersal, anthocyanins are mainly distributed in skin of fruits and flower petals. Many medicinal plants contain anthocyanins. Anthocyanins may contribute in part to bioactivities of these medicinal plants. Through literature search using PubMed and SciFinder (1950-2007), anthocyanins in 34 medicinal plants were summarized and presented in this review.