Malvin is a naturally occurring

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

of the

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are solubility, water-soluble vacuole, 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 compou ...

family. Malvin reacts in the presence of H₂O₂ to form malvone. The ortho-benzoyloxyphenylacetic acid esters reaction product is dependant of the pH: it is obtained under acidic conditions whereas under neutral conditions, the reaction product is the 3-O-acyl-glucosyl-5-O-glucosyl-7-hydroxy coumarin.

Natural occurrences

It is a

diglucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is chemically 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. Th ...

malvidin Malvidin is an O-methylated anthocyanidin, the 3',5'-methoxy derivative of delphinidin. As a primary plant pigment, its glycosides are highly abundant in nature. Natural occurrences Malvidin is responsible for the blue color found in petals ...

mainly found as a

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

in herbs like

Malva ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temp ...

(''

Malva sylvestris ''Malva sylvestris'' is a species of the mallow genus ''Malva'', of which it the type species. Known as common mallow to English-speaking Europeans, it acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow and tall mallow (mauve des bois by the Fre ...

''), ''

Primula ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the family (biology), family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (''Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common specie ...

'' and ''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

''. ''M. sylvestris'' also contains malonylmalvin (malvidin 3-(6-malonylglucoside)-5-glucoside).Malonated anthocyanins in malvaceae: Malonylmalvin from Malva sylvestris. Kosaku Takeda, Shigeki Enoki, Jeffrey B. Harborne and John Eagles, Phytochemistry, 1989, Volume 28, Issue 2, Pages 499–500, The characteristic floral jade coloration of ''

Strongylodon macrobotrys ''Strongylodon macrobotrys'', commonly known as the jade vine, emerald vine,''The Royal Horticultural Society A–Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants'', ed. Christopher Brickell, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996, , p987 or turquoise jade vine, is a l ...

'' has been shown to be an example of

copigmentation Copigmentation is a phenomenon where pigmentation due to anthocyanidins is reinforced by the presence of other colorless flavonoids known as cofactors or “copigments”. This occurs by the formation of a non-covalently-linked complex. Examples ...

, a result of the presence of malvin and saponarin (a

flavone Flavone is an organic compound with the formula . A white solid, flavone is a derivative of chromone with a phenyl (Ph) substituent adjacent to the ether group. The compound is of little direct practical importance, but substituted derivatives, ...

glucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is chemically 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. Th ...

) in the ratio 1:9.

Presence in food

Malvin can be found in a variety of common foods, including

peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

(''Clingstone'' variety).

References

{{Anthocyanins O-methylated anthocyanins Phenol ethers