Profiling of anthocyanins in transgenic purple-fleshed sweet potatoes by HPLC-MS/MS

Unlocking the health potential of anthocyanins: a structural insight into their varied biological effects

Anthocyanins have become increasingly important to the food industry due to their colorant features and many health-promoting activities. Numerous studies have linked anthocyanins to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic properties, as well as protection against heart disease, certain types of cancer, and a reduced risk of diabetes and cognitive disorders. Anthocyanins from various foods may exhibit distinct biological and health-promoting activities owing to their structural diversity. In this review, we have collected and tabulated the key information from various recent published studies focusing on investigating the chemical structure effect of anthocyanins on their stability, antioxidant activities, in vivo fate, and changes in the gut microbiome. This information should be valuable in comprehending the connection between the molecular structure and biological function of anthocyanins, with the potential to enhance their application as both colorants and functional compounds in the food industry.

Naturally Occurring Functional Ingredient from Filamentous Thermophilic Cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp. KC45: Phytochemical Characterizations and Their Multiple Bioactivities

Cyanobacteria are rich in phytochemicals, which have beneficial impacts on the prevention of many diseases. This study aimed to comprehensively characterize phytochemicals and evaluate multifunctional bioactivities in the ethanolic extract of the cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp. KC45. Results found that the extract mainly contained chlorophylls, carotenoids, phenolics, and flavonoids. Through LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS analysis, 38 phenolic compounds with promising bioactivities were discovered, and a higher diversity of flavonoids was found among the phenolic compounds identified. The extract effectively absorbed the harmful UV rays and showed high antioxidant activity on DPPH, ABTS, and PFRAP. The extract yielded high-efficiency inhibitory effects on enzymes (tyrosinase, collagenase, ACE, and α-glucosidase) related to diseases. Interestingly, the extract showed a strong cytotoxic effect on cancer cells (skin A375, lung A549, and colon Caco-2), but had a much smaller effect on normal cells, indicating a satisfactory level of safety for the extract. More importantly, the combination of the DNA ladder assay and the TUNEL assay proved the appearance of DNA fragmentation in cancer cells after a 48 h treatment with the extract, confirming the apoptosis mechanisms. Our findings suggest that cyanobacterium extract could be potentially used as a functional ingredient for various industrial applications in foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

Dietary polyglycosylated anthocyanins, the smart option? A comprehensive review on their health benefits and technological applications

Over the years, anthocyanins have emerged as one of the most enthralling groups of natural phenolic compounds and more than 700 distinct structures have already been identified, illustrating the exceptional variety spread in nature. The interest raised around anthocyanins goes way beyond their visually appealing colors and their acknowledged structural and biological properties have fueled intensive research toward their application in different contexts. However, the high susceptibility of monoglycosylated anthocyanins to degradation under certain external conditions might compromise their application. In that regard, polyglycosylated anthocyanins (PGA) might offer an alternative to overcome this issue, owing to their peculiar structure and consequent less predisposition to degradation. The most recent scientific and technological findings concerning PGA and their food sources are thoroughly described and discussed in this comprehensive review. Different issues, including their physical-chemical characteristics, consumption, bioavailability, and biological relevance in the context of different pathologies, are covered in detail, along with the most relevant prospective technological applications. Due to their complex structure and acyl groups, most of the PGA exhibit an overall higher stability than the monoglycosylated ones. Their versatility allows them to act in a wide range of pathologies, either by acting directly in molecular pathways or by modulating the disease environment attributing an added value to their food sources. Their recent usage for technological applications has also been particularly successful in different industry fields including food and smart packaging or in solar energy production systems. Altogether, this review aims to put into perspective the current state and future research on PGA and their food sources.

The Potential of Sweetpotato as a Functional Food in Sub-Saharan Africa and Its Implications for Health: A Review

Increasing urbanization in developing countries has resulted in busier lifestyles, accompanied by consumption of fast foods. The consequence is an increased prevalence in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Food-based approaches would be cheaper and more sustainable in reducing these NCDs compared to drugs, which may have side effects. Studies have suggested that consuming functional foods could potentially lower NCD risks. Sweetpotato is regarded as a functional food because it contains bioactive compounds. Recently, sweetpotato has gained attention in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but research has focused on its use in alleviating micronutrient deficiencies such as vitamin A deficiency, particularly the orange-fleshed variety of sweetpotato. Some studies conducted in other parts of the world have investigated sweetpotato as a functional food. There is a need to characterize the sweetpotato varieties in SSA and determine how processing affects their bioactive components. This review highlights some of the studies conducted in various parts of the world on the functionality of sweetpotato, its bioactive compounds, and how these are influenced by processing. In addition, the potential health benefits imparted by sweetpotato are expounded. The knowledge gaps that remain in these studies are also addressed, focusing on how they can direct sweetpotato research in SSA.

Anthocyanins, Vibrant Color Pigments, and Their Role in Skin Cancer Prevention

Until today, numerous studies evaluated the topic of anthocyanins and various types of cancer, regarding the anthocyanins' preventative and inhibitory effects, underlying molecular mechanisms, and such. However, there is no targeted review available regarding the anticarcinogenic effects of dietary anthocyanins on skin cancers. If diagnosed at the early stages, the survival rate of skin cancer is quite high. Nevertheless, the metastatic form has a short prognosis. In fact, the incidence of melanoma skin cancer, the type with high mortality, has increased exponentially over the last 30 years, causing the majority of skin cancer deaths. Malignant melanoma is considered a highly destructive type of skin cancer due to its particular capacity to grow and spread faster than any other type of cancers. Plants, in general, have been used in disease treatment for a long time, and medicinal plants are commonly a part of anticancer drugs on the market. Accordingly, this work primarily aims to emphasize the most recent improvements on the anticarcinogenic effects of anthocyanins from different plant sources, with an in-depth emphasis on melanoma skin cancer. We also briefly summarized the anthocyanin chemistry, their rich dietary sources in flowers, fruits, and vegetables, as well as their associated potential health benefits. Additionally, the importance of anthocyanins in topical applications such as their use in cosmetics is also given.

Grown to be Blue-Antioxidant Properties and Health Effects of Colored Vegetables. Part I: Root Vegetables

During the last few decades, the food and beverage industry faced increasing demand for the design of new functional food products free of synthetic compounds and artificial additives. Anthocyanins are widely used as natural colorants in various food products to replenish blue color losses during processing and to add blue color to colorless products, while other compounds such as carotenoids and betalains are considered as good sources of other shades. Root vegetables are well known for their broad palette of colors, and some species, such as black carrot and beet root, are already widely used as sources of natural colorants in the food and drug industry. Ongoing research aims at identifying alternative vegetable sources with diverse functional and structural features imparting beneficial effects onto human health. The current review provides a systematic description of colored root vegetables based on their belowground edible parts, and it highlights species and/or cultivars that present atypical colors, especially those containing pigment compounds responsible for hues of blue color. Finally, the main health effects and antioxidant properties associated with the presence of coloring compounds are presented, as well as the effects that processing treatments may have on chemical composition and coloring compounds in particular.

Phenolic Composition, Antioxidant Properties, and Inhibition toward Digestive Enzymes with Molecular Docking Analysis of Different Fractions from Prinsepia utilis Royle Fruits

The present study investigated the phenolic profiles and antioxidant properties of different fractions from Prinsepia utilis Royle fruits using molecular docking analysis to delineate their inhibition toward digestive enzymes. A total of 20 phenolics was identified and quantified. Rutin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, and isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside were the major phenolic compounds in the total phenolic fraction and flavonoid-rich fraction. The anthocyanin-rich fraction mainly contained cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside. All of the fractions exhibited strong radical scavenging activities and good inhibition on cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in H₂O₂-induced HepG2 cells, as evaluated by DPPH and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assays. Moreover, the powerful inhibitory effects of those fractions against pancreatic lipase and α-glucosidase were observed. The major phenolic compounds that were found in the three fractions also showed good digestive enzyme inhibitory activities in a dose-dependent manner. Molecular docking analysis revealed the underlying inhibition mechanisms of those phenolic standards against digestive enzymes, and the theoretical analysis data were consistent with the experimental results.