Anthocyanin
Description
Water-soluble glycosides that produce colors in many foods, seeds and flowers such as myrtle berries, blackberries, blueberries, sunflowers, peonies, delphinium, petunia, and elderberry. Anthocyanins are usually red, blue, violet or black in color. The reds and purples that occur in fall leaves are due to their anthocyanin content. Orange colors are produced from the combination of anthocyanin and carotenoids. Anthocyanins are affect by pH; they are red or pink in acidic solutions (pH < 7), purple in neutral solutions (pH ≈ 7), greenish-yellow in alkaline solutions (pH > 7), and colorless in very alkaline solutions, where the pigment is completely reduced. Using a mordant like alum (or iron) will significantly improve the color's washing fastness, however in general, anthocyanins tend to fade with light and washing.
Examples of some anthocyanins are: pelargonidin, cyanidin, peonidin, delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin (Wallert 1993).
Synonyms and Related Terms
pelargonidin; cyanidin; peonidin; delphinidin; petunidin; malvidin
Physical and Chemical Properties
- Temperature, light, oxygen and pH and affect the color and stability.
Resources and Citations
- A.Wallert, "Natural Organic Colorants on Mediaeval Parchments: Anthocyanins" ICOM Preprints, Washington DC, 1993, pp. 516-523.
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000
- Wikipedia: Anthocyanin Accessed May 2026