Work

Stabilizing and Modulating Color by Copigmentation: Insights from Theory and Experiment

Year: 2016

Type: review

Abstract: Natural anthocyanin pigments/dyes and phenolic copigments/co-dyes form noncovalent complexes, which stabilize and modulate (in particular blue, violet, and red) colors in flowers, berries, and food products derived from them (including wines, jams, purees, and syrups). This noncovalent association and their electronic and optical implications constitute the copigmentation phenomenon. Over the past decade, experimental and theoretical studies have enabled a molecular understanding of copigmentation. This review revisits this phenomenon to provide a comprehensive description of the nature of binding (the dispersion and electrostatic components of π-π stacking, the hydrophobic effect, and possible hydrogen-bonding between pigment and copigment) and of spectral modifications occurring in copigmentation complexes, in which charge transfer plays an important role. Particular attention is paid to applications of copigmentation in food chemistry.

Source: Chemical Reviews

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00507

Authors: Patrick Trouillas, Juan C. Sancho-García, Victor De Freitas, Johannes Gierschner, Michal Otyepka, Olivier Dangles