Potential Food Value
Anthocyanins are considered secondary metabolites as a food additive with E number E163 (INS number 163); they are approved for use as a food additive in the EU, Australia and New Zealand.
Although anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants in vitro, this antioxidant property is unlikely to be conserved after the plant is consumed. As interpreted by the Linus Pauling Institute and European Food Safety Authority, dietary anthocyanins and other flavonoids have little or no direct antioxidant food value following digestion. Unlike controlled test-tube conditions, the fate of anthocyanins in vivo shows they are poorly conserved (less than 5%), with most of what is absorbed existing as chemically modified metabolites that are rapidly excreted.
The increase in antioxidant capacity of blood seen after the consumption of anthocyanin-rich foods may not be caused directly by the anthocyanins, but instead may result from increased uric acid levels derived from metabolism of flavonoids.
Read more about this topic: Anthocyanin
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