How are anthocyanins synthesized in the plant?
Here’s a brief botany summary. Anthocyanins are formed from chemical raw materials in the plant, using the amino acid phenylalanine, or another chemical called malonyl coenzyme A. These two substrates join to form the base material for anthocyanins called “chalcones” that lead to the production of anthocyanins after a series of enzyme steps. The parent material of anthocyanins is a group of similar structures named “anthocyanidins” or “proanthocyanidins” which contain no sugar molecules. When sugars become attached, an anthocyanin glycoside is formed, taking the characteristic shape of anthocyanins. When first isolated by chemists, many anthocyanins were named after the colorful flowers from which they were extracted, such as petunidin (petunia), rosinidin (rose) and peonidin (peonies). The large class of antioxidant cyanidins is also anthocyanins – all these compounds belong to the group of compounds called flavonoids within the super-family of antioxidants named phenolics or polyphen
