Structure-activity relationships of anthocyanidin glycosylation.

ABSTRACT

This paper summarizes the main achievements about the structure-activity relationships of anthocyanidin glycosylation. Anthocyanidin glycosylation is the essential step of anthocyanin biosynthesis and also the prerequisite of the further modifications of anthocyanins, which is jointly characterized by the glycosylation site, the type and number of the glycosyl as well as the glycosidic bond type. It generally enhances the stability, results in the hypsochromic effect and blueing, decreases the bioavailability and anticancer activity, and decreases, increases, or does not change the antioxidant activity of the anthocyanidins or anthocyanins, which is synergetically determined by the glycosylation site and the type and number of the glycosyl. Thereinto, in nature, the blue hues caused by the glycosylation may also be reinforced by the formation of the anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions. This review could provide a reference for the research of the structure-optimizing and function-exploiting of anthocyanins.