Anthocyanins in blueberries

 1.Small berries,big industry

 As the global demand for healthy food soars,"berry"ingredients have attracted much attention in nutritional supplements and food and beverage formulations.Because these ingredients have a common feature,they are rich in vitamins,minerals and antioxidants.As a world-class production area with more than 400 edible berries,China provides the market with a steady supply of high-quality raw materials in world trade.

 In the 1990s,berries were mainly distributed in the wild in China,and there were very few professional farms to grow berries.As a doctoral student,Professor Li Bin began to focus on cultivating berry varieties suitable for large-scale cultivation,among which blueberries,bilberries,raspberries and mulberries were the main ones.This promoted the development of China's berry industry and reduced dependence on imported products.

 In the field of berry cultivation,fruit farmers lag behind in technology,have extensive management,limited economic benefits,and often encounter sales difficulties due to quality problems.In addition,the lack of core technical knowledge such as special variety selection,standardized cultivation,and storage and preservation has restricted the development of China's berry industry.But Chinese consumers have a unique love for berries.After seeing the opportunities for the continued development of this industry,Professor Li Bin decided to establish a high-tech basic technology to promote the high-value application of berry products in China.”

 2.A new star appears,blueberry anthocyanin is approved as a"new food raw material"

 In the past few decades,the research direction of Professor Li Bin's team has always focused on the study of anthocyanin flavonoids,a substance that is high in berries and gives them bright colors.More and more studies have shown that the main component of blueberries is anthocyanin,which is rich in various physiological activities and has multiple properties such as antioxidant,hypoglycemic(ability to lower blood sugar),anti-aging,enhanced immunity,relief of visual fatigue,improvement of sleep,and anti-inflammation.

 The good news is that according to the"Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China"and the"Administrative Measures for the Safety Review of New Food Ingredients",the National Health Commission has commissioned the review agency to organize experts to review and approve the safety assessment materials of blueberry anthocyanin in accordance with legal procedures.

 Blueberry anthocyanin is a powdered substance made from the fruit of blueberry of the genus Vaccinium of the Ericaceae family,through high-tech basic technology,enzymatic hydrolysis,water extraction,purification,concentration,drying and other processes.

 3.Innovation in processing mode ensures that blueberry anthocyanins are efficient and stable

 Previously,other natural and efficient antioxidants have been actively studied,but the research on the antioxidant function of blueberry anthocyanins is still limited to crude extracts and in vitro experiments,and there are few studies on the antioxidant mechanism of anthocyanins.In addition,anthocyanins are extremely unstable,so it is difficult to identify efficient and stable anthocyanins;they will degrade rapidly when exposed to light and high temperature during processing.For example,drying berries can significantly extend their shelf life,but it will reduce the nutritional content(anthocyanins)in the berries.Research data shows that drying in hot air at 70°C for 10 hours will lose 60%of the anthocyanins in blueberries.

 ·The stability of anthocyanins depends on the technical difficulties of the processing

 The team has developed a microencapsulation technology,which is called the"hand-glove"protection method.In the laboratory,small molecule anthocyanins can be encapsulated by cellulose and casein(natural food source macromolecules)to form nano-examples,thereby playing a protective role.In the industry,the stability of anthocyanins can be increased by more than 30%,and the bioavailability can be increased by 8-10 times.

 If macromolecules are likened to"gloves",anthocyanins are likened to"hands",and the"hand-glove"protection effect is formed through the spatial structural domain of macromolecules.Using this method,the stability of the anthocyanin nanosystem is increased by 30%at a temperature of up to 90°C in the laboratory.This technology has now been transformed from the laboratory to Zhejiang Lanmei Technology Co.,Ltd.(Zhejiang Lanmei Technology Co.,Ltd.)that produces anthocyanin products.Technology Co.Ltd.The extracts produced using the technology have been approved for sale by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China,a government agency responsible for health policy and regulation.

 “The macromolecules(polysaccharides and proteins)protect the delicate hands(anthocyanins)like a glove,”said Li,who speculated that the chemical bonding interactions between the macromolecules and the anthocyanin molecules are key to increasing the stability of the anthocyanins,as the system is more resistant to high-temperature processing.

 ·Improve the bioavailability of anthocyanins

 Because anthocyanins are rapidly degraded in the intestinal environment,their absorption and utilization rate is extremely low.said Li.However,when berry anthocyanins were compounded with a casein called beta-casein or a cellulose derivative called carboxymethyl cellulose and given to mice,the absorption rate of anthocyanins and their metabolites from the intestine into the blood increased 10 times.Li called this delivery system a“molecular cap”because the molecules further blocked the outer layer of the“glove”compound.In addition,the team also studied the effects of anthocyanins on the intestinal flora of rats and detected changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota and the metabolites of the microbiota,both of which are related to certain chronic diseases.