Chemistry Inspired by the Colors of Fruits, Flowers and Wine

ABSTRACT An overview is provided of the status of research at the frontiers of investigation of the chemistry and photochemistry of two classes of natural plant pigments, the anthocyanins and the betalains, as well as of the pyranoanthocyanin pigments formed from anthocyanins during the maturation of red wine. Together, anthocyanins and betalains are responsible for almost all of the red, purple and blue colors of fruits and flowers and anthocyanins and pyranoanthocyanins are major contributors to the color of red wines. All three types of pigments are cationic below about pH 3, highly colored, non-toxic, reasonably soluble in water or alcohol and fairly stable to light. They exhibit good antioxidant or antiradical activity and, as part of our diet, confer a number of important health benefits. Systematic studies of model compounds containing the basic chromophoric groups of these three types of pigments are providing a deeper understanding of the often complex chemistry and photochemistry of these pigments and their relationship to the roles in vivo of these pigments in plants. These natural pigments are currently being exploited as starting materials for the preparation of novel semi-synthetic dyes, pigments and fluorescence probes.

Freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder rich in anthocyanins did not reduce weight gain and lipid content in mice and rats

Jaboticaba, a native fruit from Brazilian Atlantic Forest, is an important source of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins have been recently identified as modulators of lipid metabolism and energy expenditure ‘in vivo’. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder on obesity treatment in different experimental models. Obese Swiss mice and obese Sprague- Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with 1, 2 and 4% freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder for 6 weeks. Energy intake, weight gain and body composition were determined, and the results were analyzed using variance and Tukey's tests (p <0.05). The energy intake was higher in mice groups supplemented with 2% and 4% of jaboticaba peel. In relation to weight gain, the mice supplemented with 2% of jaboticaba peel had higher total weight gain than the other experimental groups, while no significant difference in the fat mass accumulation was observed among the groups. The rats did not show significant differences in the evaluated parameters. These results suggest that the supplementation with freeze-dried jaboticaba peel powder, at concentrations of 1, 2 and 4%, was not effective in the reduction of energy intake, weight gain and body fat both in mice and in rats.

La cáscara de jaboticaba liofilizada, una rica fuente de antocianinas, no influyó en la ganancia de peso ni en el contenido de lípidos en roedores La jaboticaba, una fruta nativa de la Selva Atlántica de Brasil, es una fuente importante de antocianinas. Las antocianinas han sido recientemente identificadas como moduladoras del metabolismo de lípidos y del gasto energético en vivo. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el uso de la cáscara de jaboticaba liofilizada en polvo en el tratamiento de la obesidad, en distintos modelos experimentales. Ratones Swiss y ratas Sprague-Dawley obesos, recibieron dietas con alto contenido de grasas, a las que se añadió 1, 2 y 4% de cáscara de jaboticaba en polvo, durante 6 semanas. Se determinó el consumo de energía, el aumento de peso y la composición corporal de los animales, y los resultados fueron sometidos a análisis de varianza y prueba de Tukey, con p <0,05. El consumo de energía fue superior en los grupos de ratones Swiss de los grupos con 2% y 4% de cáscara de jaboticaba. En el aumento del peso, los ratones Swiss del grupo con 2% de piel de jaboticaba aumentaron más en peso total comparados a los otros grupos experimentales; mientras que no se observaron diferencias significativas entre los grupos respecto a la composición de la masa grasa. Entre los grupos de ratas Sprague-Dawley no se dieron diferencias significativas en ninguno de los parámetros evaluados. Por lo tanto, se concluye que la adición de 1, 2 y 4% de cáscara de jaboticaba liofilizada, a la dieta, no fue eficaz para el tratamiento de la obesidad, tanto en ratones Swiss como en ratas Sprague-Dawley.

Mechanism of action of antiatherogenic and related effects of Ficus bengalensis Linn. flavonoids in experimental animals.

One month treatment of alloxan diabetic dogs with a glycoside, viz. leucopelargonin derivative (100 mg/kg/day) isolated from the bark of F. bengalensis decreased fasting blood sugar and glycosylated haemoglobin by 34% and 28% respectively. Body weight was maintained in both the treated groups while the same was decreased significantly by 10% in the control group. In cholesterol diet fed rats, as the atherogenic index and the hepatic bile acid level and the faecal excretion of bile acids and neutral sterols increased, the HMGCoA reductase and lipogenic enzyme activities in liver and lipoprotien lipase activity in heart and adipose tissue and plasma LCAT activity and the incorporation of labelled acetate into free and ester cholesterol in liver decreased significantly. On treatment with the two ficus flavonoids, viz. leucopelargonin and leucocyanin derivatives and another flavonoid quercetin (100 mg/kg/day) the above said effects except on bile acids and sterols and lipogenic enzymes were significantly reversed in the cholesterol fed rats. However in the treated rats the hepatic level of bile acids and the faecal excretion of bile acids and neutral sterols still further increased and the action of lipogenic enzyme glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase was still further decreased. These effects of leucopelargonidin and quercetin were better than that of the second. Toxicity studies are required to be carried out to find out if the ficus flavonoids could be used as health promoters as they are hypocholesterolemic and antioxidant in action.