Petunidin is an O-methylated anthocyanidin. It is a natural organic compound and a particular type of anthocyanidin. It is a dark-red or purple water-soluble pigment found in many redberries including chokeberries (Aronia sp), Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia) or different species of grape (for instance Vitis vinifera, or muscadine

Muscadine

Muscadines are a grapevine species native to the present-day southeastern United States that has been extensively cultivated since the 16th Century. It differs from Vitis spp. in its number of chromosomes and its morphology...

, Vitis rotundifolia), and also part of the pigments responsible for the petal colors in many flowers. The name of the molecule itself is derived from the word Petunia

Petunia

Petunia is a widely cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, closely related with tobacco, cape gooseberries, tomatoes, deadly nightshades, potatoes and chili peppers; in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower derived its name from French, which took the word petun, meaning...

.

Biosynthesis

Petunidin could form in the exocarp of fruits from delphinidin

Delphinidin

Delphinidin is an anthocyanidin, a primary plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. Delphinidin gives blue hues to flowers like violas and delphiniums...

, with an anthocyanin flavonoid O-methyltransferase (Catechol-O-methyl transferase) catalyzing the B-ring methylation and S-Adenosyl-L-methyl-3H methionine

S-Adenosyl methionine

S-Adenosyl methionine is a common cosubstrate involved in methyl group transfers. SAM was first discovered in Italy by G. L. Cantoni in 1952. It is made from adenosine triphosphate and methionine by methionine adenosyltransferase . Transmethylation, transsulfuration, and aminopropylation are the...

 being the methyl group donor.

Glycosides

Glycoside

Glycoside

In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to a non-carbohydrate moiety, usually a small organic molecule. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme...

 forms of petunidin are present in grape. These include :

• petunidine 3-glucoside
  Glucoside
  A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes....
  
  
• Petunidin-3-O-(6-p-coumaroyl) glucoside
• Petunidin-3-O-(6-p-acetyl) glucoside
• Petunidin-3-O-Galactoside
  Galactoside
  A galactoside is a glycoside containing galactose. The H of the OH group on carbon-1 of galactose is replaced by an organic moiety.Depending on whether the glycosidic bond lies "above" or "below" the plane of the galactose molecule, galactosides are classified as α-galactosides or β-galactosides....
  
  
• Petunidin-3-Rutinoside

Uses

Petunidin is referred as E165f, E163 and following numbers corresponding to anthocyanin

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...

s in the food coloring E number

E number

E numbers are number codes for food additives that have been assessed for use within the European Union . They are commonly found on food labels throughout the European Union. Safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food Safety Authority...

list.