Cyanidin and peonidin contents in Thai indigenous vegetables
Cyanidins are a naturally occurring pigment found in fruits and
vegetables. Cyanidins are a subclass of anthocyanidins and have
been shown to have antioxidant and radical-scavenging properties,
as well as anti-proliferation activity for various human cancer cell
lines (Song et al., 2012). Total anthocyanidins (cyanidin and peonidin)
concentrations in indigenous vegetables are shown in Table 4.
The vegetables in the present study contained low amounts of
cyanidin, ranging from undetected to 36.42 mg/100 g. Peonidin
was not detected in any of the vegetables in this study, except
for young cashew leaves that contained 0.40 mg/100 g. Consequently,
the indigenous vegetables were poor sources of anthocyanins
which is not surprising as the fruits and vegetables in the
present study are possess limited colouration. Generally, dark
coloured vegetables or fruits are good sources of anthocyanin.
Andarwulan et al. (2012) similarly reported that underutilized
medicinal vegetables from Indonesia had low anthocyanin
concentrations.