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Review
. 2021 May 6;22(9):4945.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22094945.

Antioxidant Activity and Healthy Benefits of Natural Pigments in Fruits: A Review

Wang Lu  1   2 , Yuan Shi  1   2 , Rui Wang  1   2 , Deding Su  1   2 , Mingfeng Tang  3 , Yudong Liu  1   2 , Zhengguo Li  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Antioxidant Activity and Healthy Benefits of Natural Pigments in Fruits: A Review

Wang Lu et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: anthocyanidins; antioxidant; carotenoids; flavonoids; fruits; health benefits.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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