Beet-red is a common English expression derived from the annoying characteristic of beet-root cells to "leak," staining nearby objects a dark red-purple. The staining-agents are betanin and other betalain pigments. Many Americans dislike beets. "They taste like dirt" is a common complaint, but Australians and New Zealanders wouldn't think of eating their burgers without generous toppings of pickled beet-root. Eastern Europeans have enjoyed borscht since the 1600s. Want to know a secret? If you have ever eaten strawberry jam, yogurt, ice cream, breakfast cereal, red meat, pizza sauce or drank red soda or pink lemonade, you have ingested betanin. Beets are a rich source of boron, important in the production of human sex hormones. Betalains found in beet juice also have antiviral and antimicrobial properties. They demonstrate powerful antioxidant activity reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Unless you prefer the fruit of the prickly-pear cactus, beets are the only other edible source of these valuable nutriceuticals.
Related Record from CAplus
146: 141311 Betanin, the main pigment of red beet: molecular origin of its exceptionally high free radical-scavenging activity. Gliszczynska-Swiglo, A.; Szymusiak, H.; Malinowska, P. Faculty of Commodity Science, Poznan University of Economics, Poznan, Pol. Food Additives & Contaminants 2006, 23(11), 1079-1087 (Eng). In the present study, the pH-dependent free radical-scavenging activity of betanin in the Trolox equiv. antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay was detd. It was found that at a pH > 4 betanin is about 1.5-2.0-fold more active than some anthocyanins considered very good free radical scavengers as detd. in the TEAC assay. The increase in the TEAC values of betanin with increasing pH is discussed in terms of its calcd. phenolic OH homolytic bond dissocn. energy (BDE) and ionization potential (IP). The results suggest that the exceptionally high antioxidant activity of betanin is assocd. with an increasing of its H-donation and electron-donation ability when going from cationic state to mono-, di- and tri-deprotonated states present at basic solns.
129: 72300 Characterization of the antiradical activity of betalains from Beta vulgaris L. roots. Escribano, Josefa; Pedrefio, Maria Angeles; Garcia-Carmonal, Francisco; Munoz, Romualdo. Departamento de Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Phytochemical Analysis 1998, 9(3), 124-127 (Eng). Betalains (betacyanins and betaxanthins), the main pigments of red beet (Beta vulgaris) roots, showed an antiradical effect when measured by the destruction of the 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radical generated by the horse-radish peroxidase/hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidn. of ABTS. The antiradical activity of betacyanins was greater than that of the betaxanthins and increased with the pH of the reaction medium. The different antiradical properties shown by both types of betalain was discussed as to the resp. ease with which it is possible to withdraw one electron from their mols. and the stability of their corresponding radicals.
Related Structure from CAS REGISTRY
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Betanin
CAS Registry Number: 7659-95-2
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Additional Information
Updated: 1/27/2009 10:38:00 AM
