Enhancement of Stability and Antioxidant Activity of Mulberry Anthocyanins Through Succinic Acid Acylation

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Anthocyanins possess valuable health-promoting activities with significant health benefits for humans. However, their instability is a limiting factor for their usage in functional foods and beverages. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In this work, a new method to enhance the stability of anthocyanins from mulberry fruit through acylation by using succinic acid as a selected acyl donor was explored. The Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology was applied to determine the optimized conditions for the acylation process. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The highest acylation conversion rate was 79.04% at anthocyanins to succinic acid mass ratio 1:8.96, acylation duration 3 h and temperature 50 °C. Structural analysis of acylated anthocyanins revealed that succinic acid introduces a C-O-C bond and a hydroxyl group. The thermostability and light stability of mulberry anthocyanins were significantly improved after acylation, and the antioxidant activity expressed as total reducing power and Fe(2+)-chelating capacity of the acylated anthocyanins was also enhanced. NOVELTY AND SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION: Succinic acid acylation provides a novel method for stabilizing mulberry anthocyanins, as evidenced by the increased stability and antioxidant ability of anthocyanins, and thus facilitates its use in the food and nutraceutical industries.