Chlorophylls and their Derivatives Used in Food Industry and Medicine

Abstract

Finally, a comprehensive overview of the health benefits and potential medicinal applications of these pigments and the future directions of research in these fields are provided.

Chemistry in the Bioactivity of Chlorophylls: An Overview

“…Consequently, the ingestion of foods with intrinsic antioxidant properties is very important as they contribute to sustain continuously the antioxidant system of the organism. Several contributions support the antioxidant properties of chlorophylls pigments and, recently, several reviews have summarized the main results and impacts of such properties [3,50]. Significant antioxidant activity towards radical oxygen species generated by radiation or chemically induced by oxidative stress have been the subject of intensive research [51][52].…”

Phycobilins and Phycobiliproteins Used in Food Industry and Medicine

“…The biosynthesis of phycobilins proceeds via the heme biosynthetic pathway and coincides with Chl biosynthesis until the stage of protoporphyrin IX (PROTO IX) formation (reviewed in [7,10,15,37]). The chelation of PROTO IX backbone with Fe 2+ ion leading to protoheme synthesis is the initial reaction of the Fe-branch of tetrapyrrole synthesis (Fig.…”

“…More importantly, allophycocyanin and phycocyanin have bluish green and dark cobalt blue colors, respectively, hues which cannot be reproduced by almost any other natural coloring agent (with the exception of Chls and their derivatives, gardenia blue, indigo and marennine) [6,7,80,101]. However, comprehensive knowledge and technological base for augmenting the commercial utilities of phycobiliproteins is still lacking and several of their novel applications are reported only in patents (reviewed in [61]).…”

“…The consumers' increasing demand in natural colorings represents a major problem for the food industry in case of green and blue hues and especially their watersoluble forms. These are nowadays available only as watersoluble Chl derivatives (E140ii and E141ii) facing compositional and nomenclatural problems and strict reevaluation in the European Union [7,244] and limited acceptance in the United States [80,245]. Therefore, the use of different phycobilins or phycobilin-containing products such as phycobiliproteins or spirulina extracts as coloring food will probably gain more importance in the upcoming years.…”

“…Phycobilins and phycobiliproteins of photosynthetic organisms are used as natural colorants, coloring food, in dietary supplements and/or to prepare fortified and functional products [5,6]. Along with chlorophyllous pigments (reviewed in [5,7,8]), they are almost the only natural alternatives to greenish or bluish food colorants. In addition, phycobilin-containing products are also used in the health industry.…”