Web Search www.YaHind.Com Plant pigments are more than just COLORS! By: Dr. Abid Moiz, Medical Nutritionist. Our diets also contain the products from the plant kingdom ? leaves, stems, fruits, roots ? grouped as fruits and vegetables. We are attracted towards them by their color and appearance. The varied colors of fruits and vegetables are due to the presence of pigments in them. We all know that the green color of leaves is because of the chlorophylls and the orange or yellow color of fruits is due to another group of pigments called carotenoids. Plant pigments help us to find plants, to identify plant parts such as fruits, leaves, stems and to determine stages of ripening. They are often associated with strong odors and aromas. A natural pigment is defined as a chemical compound that is synthesized and accumulated, in or excreted from living cells. Since ages, along with the nutrients present in plants we consume pigments but scientists recently started to work on the importance of plants pigments to human health. The third International Congress on Pigments was held in Quimper, Britany, France from June 14 - 17, 2004, in which 173 delegates from 43 countries participated. No deficiency symptoms have been noted if the pigments are absent from the diet but their presence is certainly beneficial to human beings. Realizing the importance of these pigments, they are often called as Phytonutrients. Many of the plant pigments and their properties are yet to be discovered. We exactly do not know at present how the pigments work but it is a common observation that plants promote health and prevent disease. Many surveys have proved the preventive role of fruits and vegetables in cardiovascular diseases and some few cancers. Plant pigments appear to serve three main functions: act as antioxidants, function like chemo-preventors and regulate hormone levels. Highly processed foods and diets not containing sufficient number of servings of fruits and vegetables lack plant pigments. Dietary supplements of plant pigments are available in the market. Manufacturers of these products claim many benefits from them but the best and safe sources of plant pigments are fruits and vegetables. Over 6000 plant pigments have been identified so far. These pigments occur in wide variety of forms and functions making it difficult to classify them. However, plant pigments in order of importance to our health include: carotenoids, flavonoids and chlorophylls. CAROTENOIDS: are widely distributed natural pigments in plants and animals. They give yellow or orange or red color to fruits and vegetables. In animals carotenoids are present in egg-yolks, liver, body fat deposits, lobsters and the milk fat of cattle. They also occur in bacteria, algae and fungi. Over 600 yellow, orange or red colored pigments are grouped into carotenoids. Their presence in many plants is masked by chlorophyll. In plants they help in photosynthesis and protect the chlorophylls from photo-oxidation. Carotenoids are generally grouped into two classes: the hydrocarbons or carotenes and the oxygenated or xanthophylls. The carotenoids and their source are given in the table. Table showing the common carotenoids and their sources Carotenoid Source Carotenes Alpha-carotene Carrot, water melon Beta-carotene Banana, jack fruit, maize, mango, papaya, pumpkin, water melon, red pepper, carrot, spinach, chokeberry Lycopene Tomato, blood oranges, red grapefruit, water melon Xanthophylls Capsanthin Red pepper Violaxanthin Orange juice, red pepper Lutein Spinach Actions in human health: Carotenoids are known to have diverse biological functions. Much research is being done on carotenoids. The functions of carotenoids in our body are: " The most important function they perform is that they are the precursor of vitamin A. Approximately 40 carotenoids have been found to act as vitamin A precursor. The most common of them is the beta-carotene. " They act as antioxidants. Along with vitamin C and E beta-carotene are known to be the natural antioxidants present in our body. " Carotenoids play an important role in chemoprevention of diseases including cardiovascular diseases and few cancers. " Accumulated evidence suggests that some carotenoids have direct stimulatory effects on the immunoresponse system. Carotenoids are water soluble compounds and are not affected by cooking. Carotenoid pigments are used as natural food colorant additives. For carotenoids intake consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is advised. Commercial carotenoids are also available but the effectiveness of purified carotenoids including the beta carotene is not known. FLAVONOIDS: are group of compounds originally called as 'vitamin P' but later it was abandoned, as these compounds were not found to have vitamin like activity. No physiological functions or roles of flavonoids in humans have so far been established; some are known to act as antioxidants. They produce a wide variety of colors in plants. Flavonoids in fruits and flowers play an important role in attracting insects and animals pollinators. They are of two types: the anthocyanins and the anthoxanthins. Anthocyanins are of greater importance in food. They occur in vacuolar sap of plant cells as glycosides, the anthocyanidins. Anthocyanins are water soluble and highly reactive. The wide range of red, blue and purple color and their various shades of fruits, flowers and vegetables are because of anthocyanins; the most common are: pelargonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, peonidin, malvidin. It is to be noted that wine grapes contain one or more of anthocyanidins that are responsible for the wide range of wine colors. Flavonoids are also used as natural colorants. Anthoxanthins also called flavones are colorless to pale yellow in color. The most common anthoxanthins is quercitin found in onion skins, prunes, apricots and tea leaves. CHLOROPHYLLS: are green in color and the most widespread plant pigment. The chief forms are a and b chlorophylls. They are present in plastids and capture light and convert it into chemical energy. Vegetables especially the leafy ones contain more chlorophylls than fruits. We at present do not know conclusively what role they have in the chemistry of our body and in what way they are useful to us but this is well established that as part of vegetables they are beneficial to us. This is true of chlorophylls as well as for other plant pigments. To reap the unknown and undiscovered benefits of plant pigments a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended. 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