A variety of fruits and vegetables,
including raspberries, blueberries,
Concord grapes, blackberries, strawberries, peaches, eggplant, red
cabbage, and red onions, contain flavonoid compounds known as anthocyanins
that are responsible for the blue-red color and the astringent taste
associated with such foods. In addition, anthocyanins exhibit a wide
range of chemical properties, such as radical scavenging, metal chelation,
pH-dependent color changes, and intramolecular stabilization. Two
experiments have been developed for anthocyanin-containing extracts
isolated from freeze-dried berries to teach students the skills of
solid–liquid extraction, paper chromatography, UV–vis
spectroscopic characterization, and detection and evaluation of radical
scavenging properties.