A Review of the Biological Properties of Purple Corn (Zea mays L.)

Abstract

In the food and beverage industries, replacing synthetic colorants with plant-based colorants has become popular in recent times. Purple corn (Zea mays L.) is an important source of natural colorants due to its range in color from orange to purple. The whole plant of purple corn has a high amount of anthocyanin content. Anthocyanin is the water-soluble pigment found in various fruits and vegetables. The color pigments are chiefly found in the pericarp or kernels, in addition to corn cobs. Purple corn is rich in various health-promoting compounds, mainly anthocyanins such as cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, perlagonidin-3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-glucoside, and their malonylated forms. This review emphasized recent updates regarding the in vitro and in vivo biological properties of extracts and compounds from purple corn. Purple corn color extracts possess a variety of biological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, etc. The results of in vitro and in vivo studies of the biological properties of purple corn could lead to the development of different health-promoting products in the near future.

Impact of corn silage substitution for dry alfalfa on milk fatty acid profile, nitrogen utilization, plasma biochemical markers, rumen fermentation, and antioxidant capacity in Mahabadi lactating goats

“…Goats receiving a diet containing corn silage exhibited significantly higher levels of antioxidant capacity in rumen fluid, plasma, and milk when compared to goats fed a dry forage diet ( p < 0.05). This enhancement can be attributed to the presence of anthocyanin, a polyphenol extracted from corn silage, known for its antioxidant activity ( Kim et al., 2023 ). Anthocyanin contributes to the body's antioxidant capacity by donating phenolic hydrogen atoms to free radicals and enhancing the activity of antioxidant-related enzymes.…”

Flowered Grain Quality and Phytochemical Content of Non-Conventional Maize Hybrids from the Mexican Subtropics across Three Growing Cycles

“…Phytochemical compounds that are leached into flowered broth are not considered losses since in the preparation of the dish called pozole, the flowering broth is consumed as well as flowered grains. Therefore, making pozole with pigmented grains could be an option for consuming foods with nutraceutical value since it has been reported that maize anthocyanins have anticancer activity and cardioprotective, antimicrobial, antimutagenic, and antidiabetic effects, to mention a few [ 17 , 41 ].…”

“…The purple, red, and blue tones in grains of the ‘EO’ race present in new NCHs are due to anthocyanins in the aleurone layer [ 6 ]. Anthocyanins are pigments that have gained great relevance due to their antimicrobial, antimutagenic, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties [ 17 ].…”

Utilization of local therapeutic food in preventing and treating nutrition problems in the dry land area of the islands of east nusa tenggara province

“…The Corn (Zea mays L) are processed more traditionally and used as staple food with nutritional content. [ 2 ] Moringa leaves ( Moringan oleifera ) contain many nutrients and are always available in abundant quantities. [ 3 ] However, people still use it more as a hedge plant than consuming it.…”