Betalains is a kind of water-soluble nitrogen-containing pigments,which have many similarities with anthocyanins in function and organ distribution.To better understand the biosynthetic mechanism and provide a reference for further development and utilization of betalains,the relevant research progress of betalains at home and abroad was reviewed in this paper.Betalains mainly exists in Caryophyllales.It can be divided into betacyanins and betaxanthins.Betalain not only has the function of attracting insects for pollination,but also can act as an important osmoregulation substance and non-enzymatic antioxidant to help plants to defense against various biotic and abiotic stress cues and maintain normal physiological ac-tivities.Betalain has unique biosynthetic pathway and important medical and health value,and has been widely used in food,medicine and cosmetics.This paper introduced the betalain from the aspects of physi-cal and chemical properties,biosynthetic pathway,biological functions and application value,especially fo-cused on the research progress of the relationship between betalain and anthocyanin and the effects of light on betalain biosynthesis.
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