Beltsville, MD, USA. Plant pigments called anthocyanins provide fruits and vegetables with beneficial blue, purple and red coloring. Scientists are learning more about these compounds and their absorption into the human blood stream. Anthocyanins are a group of healthful compounds that fall within the flavonoid class of plant nutrients. New research has identified 36 anthocyanins in red cabbage, including eight that had never before been detected in the cabbage.

 

Researchers from the US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) conducted a study at the ARS Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC) in Beltsville, Md., where scientists have pioneered methods for identifying and measuring various phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables.

 

 

 

Interestingly, the anthocyanins that the researchers identified were not equally absorbed, as measured by the portion of the ingested compound that reached the blood stream. Nearly 80 percent of cabbage anthocyanins tested were "acylated," meaning attached to acyl groups, which made them more stable and less absorbable. The non-acylated anthocyanins present were at least four times more bioavailable, or absorbed, than the acylated anthocyanins.

 

The findings could aid plant breeders in developing varieties with key anthocyanin structures and amounts.

 

Effect of Dose Size on Bioavailability of Acylated and Nonacylated Anthocyanins from Red Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. Var. capitata). Charron, C. S., Clevidence, B. A., Britz, S. J., Novotny. J. Agric. Food Chem., 55 (13), 5354-5362, 2007. 10.1021 / jf0710736 S0021-8561(07)01073-4.

 

Abstract. Recent studies indicate that anthocyanin intake conveys a variety of health benefits, which depend on absorption and metabolic mechanisms that deliver anthocyanins and their bioactive metabolites to responsive tissues. The anthocyanin bioavailability of red cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) was evaluated as reflected by urinary excretion of anthocyanins and anthocyanin metabolites. Twelve volunteers consumed 100, 200, and 300 g of steamed red cabbage (containing 1.38 mol of anthocyanins/g of cabbage) in a crossover design. Anthocyanin concentration in cabbage extract and urine was measured by HPLC-MS/MS. Six nonacylated and 30 acylated anthocyanins were detected in red cabbage, and 3 nonacylated anthocyanins, 8 acylated anthocyanins, and 4 metabolites were present in urine. Mean 24 h excretion of intact anthocyanins increased linearly from 45 (100 g dose) to 65 nmol (300 g dose) for acylated anthocyanins and from 52 (100 g dose) to 79 nmol (300 g dose) for nonacylated anthocyanins. Urinary recovery of intact anthocyanins (percent of anthocyanin intake) decreased linearly from 0.041% (100 g dose) to 0.020% (300 g dose) for acylated anthocyanins and from 0.18% (100 g dose) to 0.09% (300 g dose) for nonacylated anthocyanins. Anthocyanin metabolites consisted of glucuronidated and methylated anthocyanins. The results show that red cabbage anthocyanins were excreted in both intact and metabolized forms and that recovery of nonacylated anthocyanins in urine was >4-fold that of acylated anthocyanins.

 

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