Viola is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae. It is the largest genus in the family, containing over 680 species. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere; however, some are also found in widely divergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes.
Viola tricolor is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. The species is also known as wild pansy, Johnny Jump up, heartsease, heart's ease, heart's delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, love-in-idleness, and pink of my john.
Lotus corniculatus is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil, though the latter name is often also applied to other members of the genus.
Delphinidin is an anthocyanidin, a primary plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. Delphinidin gives blue hues to flowers in the genera Viola and Delphinium. It also gives the blue-red color of the grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon, and can be found in cranberries and Concord grapes as well as pomegranates, and bilberries.
Clitoria is a genus of mainly tropical and subtropical, insect-pollinated flowering pea vines.
Ipomoea purpurea, the common morning-glory, tall morning-glory, or purple morning glory, is a species in the genus Ipomoea, native to Mexico and Central America.
Hibiscus tea is a herbal tea made as an infusion from crimson or deep magenta-colored calyces (sepals) of the roselle flower. It is consumed both hot and cold. It has a tart, cranberry-like flavor.
Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, feathers, fur and hair contain pigments such as melanin in specialized cells called chromatophores. In some species, pigments accrue over very long periods during an individual's lifespan.
In biochemistry, cyclotides are small, disulfide-rich peptides isolated from plants. Typically containing 28-37 amino acids, they are characterized by their head-to-tail cyclised peptide backbone and the interlocking arrangement of their three disulfide bonds. These combined features have been termed the cyclic cystine knot (CCK) motif. To date, over 100 cyclotides have been isolated and characterized from species of the families Rubiaceae, Violaceae, and Cucurbitaceae. Cyclotides have also been identified in agriculturally important families such as the Fabaceae and Poaceae.
Centrosema, the butterfly peas, is a genus of American vines in the legume family (Fabaceae). It includes 44 species, which range through the tropical and warm-temperate Americas from the southern United States to northern Argentina. Species include:
In enzymology, a flavonol 3-O-glucosyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Anthocyanins, also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart named a chemical compound that gives flowers a blue color, Anthokyan, in his treatise "Die Farben der Blüthen". Food plants rich in anthocyanins include the blueberry, raspberry, black rice, and black soybean, among many others that are red, blue, purple, or black. Some of the colors of autumn leaves are derived from anthocyanins.
Cecropterus dorantes, the lilac-banded longtail or Dorantes longtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found from Argentina, north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to southern Texas and peninsular Florida. Strays can be found as far north as northern California, southern Arizona, southern Missouri and North Carolina.
Nasi kerabu is a Malaysian rice dish, a type of nasi ulam, in which blue-colored rice is eaten with dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and other salads. The blue color of the rice comes from the petals of Clitoria ternatea (butterfly-pea) flowers (bunga telang), which are used as a natural food coloring in cooking it. The rice can also be plain white rice or rice cooked using turmeric. It is often eaten with solok lada and is also eaten with fried keropok.
Delphinidin 3',5'-O-glucosyltransferase is an enzyme with systematic name UDP-glucose:delphinidin 3-O-(6-O-malonyl)-beta-D-glucoside 3'-O-glucosyltransferase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Cliotides are a group of related peptides that have been isolated from the heat-stable fraction of Clitoria ternatea (Cliotides) extracts. Cliotides belong to a larger classification of peptides, the cyclotides.
Butterfly pea flower tea, commonly known as blue tea, is a caffeine-free herbal tea, or tisane, beverage made from a decoction or infusion of the flower petals or whole flower of the Clitoria ternatea plant. Clitoria ternatea is also known as butterfly pea, blue pea, Aprajita, Cordofan pea, Blue Tea Flowers or Asian pigeonwings.
Blue flower colour was always associated with something unusual and desired. Blue roses especially were assumed to be a dream that cannot be realised. Blue colour in flower petals is caused by anthocyanins, which are members of flavonoid class metabolites. We can diversify three main classes of anthocyanin pigments: cyaniding type responsible for red coloration, pelargonidin type responsible for orange colour and delphinidin type responsible for violet/blue flower and fruits coloration. The main difference in the structure of listed anthocyanins type is the number of hydroxyl groups in the B-ring of the anthocyanin. Nevertheless, in the monomeric state anthocyanins never show blue colour in the weak acidic and neutral pH. The mechanism of blue colour formation are very complicated in most cases, presence of delphinidin type pigments is not sufficient, great role play also the pH and the formation of complexes of anthocyanins with flavones and metal ions.
White flower colour is related to the absence or reduction of the anthocyanidin content. Unlike other colors, white colour is not induced by pigments. Several white plant tissues are principally equipped with the complete machinery for anthocyanin biosynthesis including the expression of regulatory genes. Nevertheless, they are unable to accumulate red or blue pigments, for example Dahlia ´Seattle´ petals showing a white tip. Several studies have revealed a further reduction of the anthocyanidin to colorless epicatechin by the enzyme anthocyanidin reductase (ANR).
This page is a sortable table of plants used as herbs and/or spices. This includes plants used as seasoning agents in foods or beverages, plants used for herbal medicine, and plants used as incense or similar ingested or partially ingested ritual components.
