All articles tagged with #anthocyanins
Potatoes can be very nutritious, but their benefits vary by flesh color: purple and red varieties are high in antioxidants and polyphenols like anthocyanins, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes deliver vitamin A, while yellow types offer vitamin C and white potatoes provide chlorogenic acids and minerals. Keeping skins on boosts nutrients, and russets are ideal for fries, though frying reduces health benefits.
Home gardeners can look forward to growing a new variety of tomato this summer: the Purple Tomato, a genetically modified organism developed by Norfolk Plant Sciences. These cherry tomatoes carry purple color genes from a snapdragon flower, resulting in high levels of anthocyanins, which have potential health benefits. The Purple Tomato aims to challenge public perceptions of GMOs and is described as having a rich and savory taste. Seeds are available for purchase, offering the opportunity to add a colorful and flavorful addition to summer salads.
Despite their name, blueberries do not actually contain blue pigment. The observed blue color of blueberries is due to the way light interacts with the randomly arranged crystal structures of the thin wax layer that coats the fruit, rather than from pigmentation within the fruit. A study from the University of Bristol revealed that the wax coating contains miniature structures that scatter blue and UV light, creating the appearance of blue. This previously unknown coloration mechanism in blue fruit could lead to the development of new artificial materials with similar functionality.
Blueberries appear blue due to the way light bounces off them and is interpreted by our brains, despite the fact that their pigments, anthocyanins, are actually dark red. Researchers at the University of Bristol discovered that the blue color of blueberries is produced by a wax coating on the fruit's body, which contains tiny external structures.
Oregon State University vegetable breeder Jim Myers has developed a breeding program that produces purple tomatoes with high anthocyanin content, a healthy antioxidant. The program has resulted in five purple tomato varieties, including Indigo Rose, Indigo Cherry Drops, Indigo Pear Drops, Indigo Kiwi, and Midnight Roma. The breeding process involved crossing plants that showed potential to express the purple gene in their offspring, selecting the best ones, and crossing them again. The resulting tomatoes are non-GMO and have better resistance to decay and verticillium wilt. A new genetically modified purple tomato from Europe will also be released in the US market this year.
Recent research has found that anthocyanins, the red, purple, and blue pigments found in fruits, vegetables, and tubers, can lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The beneficial effect of anthocyanins on diabetes is amplified when they are acylated, meaning that an acyl group is attached to the sugar moieties of the anthocyanin. Purple vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, carrots, and red cabbages contain a great amount of acylated anthocyanins. Acylated anthocyanins have probiotic properties and reduce the risk of diabetes more efficiently than nonacylated anthocyanins.