Strategy for anthocyanins production: From efficient green extraction to novel microbial biosynthesis

Abstract

Anthocyanins are widely distributed in nature and exhibit brilliant colors and multiple health-promoting effects; therefore, they are extensively incorporated into foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic industries. Anthocyanins have been traditionally produced by plant extraction, which is characterized by high expenditure, low production rates, and rather complex processes, and hence cannot meet the increasing market demand. In addition, the emerging environmental issues resulting from traditional solvent extraction technologies necessitate a more efficient and eco-friendly alternative strategy for producing anthocyanins. This review summarizes the efficient approach for green extraction and introduces a novel strategy for microbial biosynthesis of anthocyanins, emphasizing the technological changes in production.

Keywords:

• Anthocyanins
• production
• green extraction
• microbial biosynthesis

Acknowledgements

We thank Meng Shi and Feixiong Luo (Hunan Agricultural University, China) for valuable discussions and Pengsheng Zhou (Ningxia University, China) for assistance with the figure drawing.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant number: 31930087).