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Coloring a red rose blue A long-standing quest of horticulture has been to develop a blue rose, and the new variety Rhapsody in Blue is the bluest available, changing from dark plum to violet as it blooms. The same anthocyanin pigment that colors magenta-red roses also yields the purple-blue color of Rhapsody, according to findings reported by Jean-François Gonnet at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, in France [J. Agric. Food Chem., published online July 19, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf0343276]. In magenta roses, cyanin--cyanidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside (shown)--is present in solution in petal cell vacuoles. In Rhapsody cells, the pigment is further concentrated into protein matrices inside the vacuoles, called inclusions. The high concentration of cyanin in the inclusions, and possibly the interaction with the protein matrix, leads to formation of the quinonoidal base form of the pigment and an increase in absorption at longer wavelengths. Similar pigment patterns have been observed in blue-gray carnations and purple lisianthus, leading scientists to speculate that further study of inclusions may be key to producing a truly blue rose. |
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