One-Step synthesis of betalains using a novel betalamic acid derivatized support

Abstract

Betalains are plant pigments with high antioxidant and cancer hemopreventive properties used by the food industry as safe colorants. Betalains are restricted to species of the order Caryophyllales, and difficulty in obtaining individual molecules has limited their structural identification and application. This study was designed to develop a betalamic acid derivatized support generated from a primary amine polymer. The novel material presents color properties of a pseudobetaxanthin, and it is stable for at least 6 months. The bond formed can be displaced at mild conditions by the addition of amines in aqueous solutions over a broad pH range and at 25 °C. This releases the betalamic acid while forming the corresponding pigment. This one-step procedure significantly simplifies the process of obtaining semisynthetic betalains, and it is optimized here for the formation of betaxanthins and betacyanins derived from tyramine, dopamine, pyrrolidine, and indoline. The new method makes access to single betalains available to the entire scientific community and could stimulate research and applications in the field.