Interested in betalains and betalain-containing plant extracts?
Plant pigments betalains have emerged as novel phytochemicals of potential application in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries due to their natural colorant and fluorescent properties, potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities, and in vivo health-promoting potential. With cutting-edge capabilities, our company offers reference substances and support in analysis and production of tailor-made betalains in established and emerging areas.
FREE RADICAL SCAVENGERS
The first investigations that demonstrated a radical scavenging capacity in betalains were carried out separately with betacyanins and betaxanthins, extracted from Beta vulgaris in 1998. Since then, structure-activity relationships have been described and the influence of the medium characterized. Betalains have also been reported to be scavengers of hypochlorous acid, which is the most powerful oxidant produced by human neutrophils in inflammatory processes. Strong antioxidant and antiradical betanin activities have been properly explained in terms of its electron donor capacity.