Betalain

The deep red color of beets, bougainvillea, amaranth, and many cacti results from the presence of betalain pigments.

[2] The particular shades of red to purple are distinctive and unlike that of anthocyanin pigments found in most plants.

[5] Betalains (betacyanins) were first isolated and its chemical structure discovered in 1960 at the University of Zurich by Dr. Tom Mabry.

The color and antioxidant capacity of betanin and indicaxanthin (betaxanthin derived of l-proline) are affected by dielectric microwave heating.

[11] Furthermore, a betanin-europium(III) complex has been used to detect calcium dipicolinate in bacterial spores, including Bacillus anthracis and B.

The diversity of betacyans results from different glucosylation of betanidine and its subsequent acylation with aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids.

Betanin extracted from the red beet[16] was used as starting material for the semisynthesis of an artificial coumarinic betalaine.

The interest of the food industry in betalains has grown since they were identified by in vitro methods as antioxidants,[21] which may protect against oxidation of low-density lipoproteins.