Key Laboratory of Plant Hormones and Development Regulation of Chongqing, School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China.
Center of Plant Functional Genomics, Institute of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 May 6;22(9):4945. doi: 10.3390/ijms22094945.
Natural pigments, including carotenoids, flavonoids and anthocyanidins, determine the attractive color of fruits. These natural pigments are essential secondary metabolites, which play multiple roles in the whole life cycle of plants and are characterized by powerful antioxidant activity. After decades of research and development, multiple benefits of these natural pigments to human health have been explored and recognized and have shown bright application prospects in food, medicine, cosmetics and other industries. In this paper, the research progress of natural fruit pigments in recent years was reviewed, including the structural characteristics and classification, distribution in fruits and analysis methods, biosynthetic process, antioxidant capacity and mechanism, bioaccessibility and bioavailability, and health benefits. Overall, this paper summarizes the recent advances in antioxidant activity and other biological functions of natural fruit pigments, which aims to provide guidance for future research.
天然色素，包括类胡萝卜素、类黄酮和花青素，决定了水果诱人的颜色。这些天然色素是必需的次生代谢物，在植物的整个生命周期中扮演着多种角色，具有强大的抗氧化活性。经过几十年的研究和开发，这些天然色素对人类健康的多种益处已经被探索和认识，并在食品、医药、化妆品等行业显示出了广阔的应用前景。本文综述了近年来天然水果色素的研究进展，包括结构特征和分类、在水果中的分布和分析方法、生物合成过程、抗氧化能力和机制、生物利用度和生物有效性以及健康益处。总的来说，本文总结了天然水果色素抗氧化活性和其他生物学功能的最新进展，旨在为未来的研究提供指导。
