Natural pigments nutraceuticals

Delgado-Vargas, F. and Paredes-Lopez, O., Natural pigments global perspective, in Natural Colorants for Pood and Nutraceutical Uses, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2003, chap. 6. 

Y. Gao, H.G. Daood, B. Simandi and P.A. Biacs, Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and HPLC of pigments from fennel seeds, Papers presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Natural Colorants for Food, Nutraceuticals, Beverages, Confectionery Cosmetics, S. I. C. Publishing Company, Puerto de Acapulco Mexico, (1996) 1. 

Anthocyanins are a proanthocyanidin-type of flavonoid distributed in various fruits. These anthocyanins are the most important visible plant pigments in the natural kingdom. Anthocyanins have been clinically used in many folklore medicines worldwide for the treatment of age-related diseases and other disease. This review presents the functionality of anthocyanins in relation to their chemistry, synthetic pathway, antioxidant activity, antitumor activity (including apoptosis-inducing activity), pharmacodynamics (absorption, metabolism, distribution, and excretion) and toxicity, and discusses their possible use as food and dietary supplements and usage in potential nutraceuticals. 

Astaxanthin is a high-value carotenoid produced from microalgae that is produced commercially. Astaxanthin is ubiquitous in nature, especially in the marine environment, and is responsible for eliciting the pinkish-red hue to the flesh of salmonids, shrimp, lobster and crayfish. Cultivation methods have been developed to produce Haematococcus containing 1.5-3.0% astaxanthin by dry weight, with potential applications as a pigment source in aquaculture, poultry feeds and in the nutraceutical area. " ... 

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