The individual anthocyanins of purple corn have been characterized, and these include cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-(6″-malonylglucoside), cyanidin-3-(3″, 6″-dimalonylglucoside),pelargonidin-3-glucoside, peonidin-3-glucoside and their malonated counterparts as the major anthocyanins.