Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH. They belong to a parent class of molecules called flavonoids synthesized via the phenylpropanoid pathway. Anthocyanins occur in all tissues of higher plants, including leaves, stems, roots, flowers, and fruits. Anthoxanthins are their clear, white to yellow counterparts occurring in plants. Anthocyanins are derivatives of anthocyanidins which include pendant sugars.
Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants in vitro. This antioxidant property may be conserved even after the plant which produced the anthocyanin is consumed by another organism, possibly explaining why fruits and vegetables with colorful skins and pulp are considered nutritious. Research continues to be underway as to the potential range of health benefits from anthocyanins.
Blueberries, and berries in general, are among foods labeled as "diabetes superfoods" by the American Association of Diabetes. Food science researchers at the University of Illinois have found that fermenting berries may improve their antidiabetic potential even more.
Bilberries - a unique part of the Nordic diet - could be utilised in higher amounts in food products to increase our dietary fibre intake. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd took an interest in bilberry press cake and developed methods to use it as a dietary fibre source in tasty snacks.
Anthocyanins, pigments that give plants their red, blue, or purple hues, are not typically produced in citrus fruits grown under tropical or subtropical conditions. Now, scientists have genetically engineered a lime that contains anthocyanins, which they say has several potential benefits.
A team of food scientists from the National University of Singapore has successfully formulated a recipe for making healthier bread by adding a natural plant pigment, called anthocyanin, extracted from black rice. This new bread option gets digested at a slower rate - hence improving blood glucose control - and is high in antioxidants, among other health benefits.
Research has shown that New Zealand blackcurrants are good for keeping us mentally young and agile, a finding that could have potential in managing the mental decline associated with aging populations, or helping people with brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease or depression.
To help the general public understand how bioengineering is changing the world for the better, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) is supporting a unique public outreach program led by expert plant synthetic biologists at Revolution Bioengineering.
A team of volunteers ate half a kilo of strawberries a day for a month to see whether it altered their blood parameters in any way. At the end of this unusual treatment, their levels of bad cholesterol and triglycerides reduced significantly, according to the analyses conducted by Italian and Spanish scientists.
The crumbs from the Christmas cookies are gone and black-eyed peas, eaten on New Year to bring luck, are a distant memory. Declared American Heart Month with Valentine's Day smack dab in the middle, February is here. What to eat to keep your heart healthy?
Researchers working at the University of Saskatchewan have discovered new potential in prairie fruits, in particular, buffaloberry, chokecherry and sea buckthorn, according to a new study published today in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science.
Tomatoes, said to be the world's most popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting thanks to UK research with purple GM varieties.
If you want to keep your true love's heart beating strong, Susan Ofria, clinical nutrition manager at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, said the real food of love is dark chocolate and red wine. In moderation, red wine and dark chocolate are good health choices not just on Valentine's Day, but for any occasion.
Regular consumption of anthocyanin-rich strawberries and blueberries may help prevent heart attacks in young women, suggest study findings.
In evaluating the bioactive compounds of Illinois blueberry and blackberry wines, University of Illinois scientists have found compounds that inhibit enzymes responsible for carbohydrate absorption and assimilation. And that could mean a tasty way to help people with diabetes decrease their blood sugar.
The anthocyanin pigments that provide the "blood" color of blood oranges are not produced in significant amounts unless the fruit is exposed to cold conditions during its development or post-harvest. No cold exposure means poor anthocyanin production and the loss of the entire crop. This means that blood oranges can be grown in many areas of the world, but they are most likely to be exposed to the correct temperature conditions in only a few regions, including their major area of production in Sicily.
For the red pigmentation to develop, blood oranges normally require a period of cold as they ripen. The only place to reliably grow them on a commercial scale is in the Sicilian area of Italy around Mount Etna. Here, the combination of sun and cold/sunny days and warm nights provides ideal growing conditions.
Forget the oysters and the champagne this Valentine's Day. If you want to keep your true love's heart beating strong, Susan Ofria, clinical nutrition manager at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, said the real food of love is dark chocolate and red wine.
Health conscious consumers who hesitate at the price of fresh blueberries and blackberries, fruits renowned for high levels of healthful antioxidants, now have an economical alternative, scientists reported here today at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. It is black rice, one variety of which got the moniker "Forbidden Rice" in ancient China because nobles commandeered every grain for themselves and forbade the common people from eating it.
A Kansas State University researcher is studying the potential health benefits of a specially bred purple sweet potato because its dominant purple color results in an increased amount of anti-cancer components.
A study published in Cancer Prevention Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, identifies components of black raspberries with chemopreventive potential.
British scientists have developed purple tomatoes which they believe may possibly help fight cancer.
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