Interactions of starch with a cyanidin-catechin pigment (vignacyanidin) isolated from Vigna angularis bean

A cyanidin-catechin pigment isolated from adzuki bean (vignacyanidin) interacted with starch. The pigment had absorption maxima at 530 and 540 nm at pH 2.0 and 6.8, respectively, and starch (10 and 100 mg ml−1) increased the absorbance, shifting the absorption maxima to longer wavelengths. Nitrite oxidised vignacyanidin at pH 2.0, and the oxidation resulted in the production of nitric oxide (NO). Rates of the oxidation and the NO production were enhanced by starch. Vignacyanidin inhibited α-amylase-catalysed digestion of starch at pH 6.8, and amylose digestion was more effectively inhibited than amylopectin digestion. The above results suggest (i) that binding of the pigment to starch increased the accessibility of nitrous acid to the pigment, and (ii) that the binding reduced the digestibility of starch by α-amylase. Possible functions of the pigment in the stomach and the intestine are postulated, taking the above results into account.