Peonidin

Peonidin at a Glance

Peonidin is a purple-red anthocyanidin — one of the six common aglycone pigments behind the colour of red, purple and blue fruits and flowers. Structurally it is the 3’-O-methyl ether of cyanidin: the same skeleton with a single methyl group added to one hydroxyl of the B-ring. It takes its name from the peony (Paeonia), whose flowers carry its glycosides ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}.

The single most important thing to know is that, like all anthocyanidins, the free aglycone is largely a paper entity in the body. In plants peonidin occurs almost entirely as glycosides — chiefly peonidin-3-galactoside and peonidin-3-glucoside — and the free molecule is chemically unstable at physiological pH and poorly bioavailable ^{2,8Reference 2Fang J · 2015Classification of fruits based on anthocyanin types and relevance to their health effectsView study →Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →}. So nearly every “peonidin” finding is really about one of its glycosides or about a whole-food extract (cranberry, purple sweet potato), and much of the apparent activity belongs to downstream phenolic-acid metabolites, principally vanillic acid ^{8,9Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →Reference 9Nurmi T et al. · 2009Metabolism of berry anthocyanins to phenolic acids in humansView study →}.

Its practical significance is as a plant pigment and dietary marker — peonidin and cyanidin glycosides together make up roughly 90% of cranberry’s anthocyanins ^{3Reference 3Urbstaite R et al. · 2022Phytogenotypic anthocyanin profiles and antioxidant activity variation in fruit samples of the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton)View study →} — rather than as a demonstrated human medicine.

Peonidin as Methylated Cyanidin

Peonidin is best understood as cyanidin with one B-ring hydroxyl methylated. Cyanidin carries a catechol B-ring (two adjacent hydroxyls); enzymatic O-methylation at the 3’ position converts one of them to a methoxy group, giving peonidin’s guaiacyl B-ring (one methoxy, one free hydroxyl) ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}. The same enzyme family produces the other methylated anthocyanidins — petunidin and malvidin from delphinidin — so peonidin sits alongside cyanidin, delphinidin, pelargonidin, petunidin and malvidin as the six common anthocyanidins ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}.

This one methyl group matters in three ways:

• Colour and stability. Methylation shifts the hue toward purple-red and generally makes the pigment more chemically stable than the parent catechol, which is why anthocyanin-rich plants invest in methylated forms ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}.
• Antioxidant trade-off. The catechol B-ring is what makes cyanidin such a strong radical scavenger; capping one hydroxyl reduces that direct antioxidant capacity, so peonidin is a somewhat weaker scavenger than cyanidin even though it is still active ^{1,4Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →}.
• The metabolite signature. When peonidin’s ring is cleaved in the gut, its guaiacyl B-ring becomes vanillic acid (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid) — the direct chemical echo of that 3’-methoxy group — whereas cyanidin yields protocatechuic acid. Vanillic acid is among the most abundant circulating anthocyanin metabolites in humans, and much of peonidin’s biological relevance may travel through it rather than through the intact pigment ^{8,9Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →Reference 9Nurmi T et al. · 2009Metabolism of berry anthocyanins to phenolic acids in humansView study →}.

How far that antioxidant trade-off goes is worth stating precisely, because peonidin comes off badly. A ranking of 15 purified bilberry anthocyanins against two separate oxidants placed peonidin second from last on both, below even (+)-catechin and ahead only of pelargonidin ^{11Reference 11Rahman MM et al. · 2006In vitroSuperoxide radical- and peroxynitrite-scavenging activity of anthocyanins; structure-activity relationship and their synergism — in vitroView study →}:

Radical	Potency order (most → least)
Superoxide (O₂⁻)	delphinidin > petunidin > malvidin ≈ cyanidin > (+)-catechin > peonidin > pelargonidin
Peroxynitrite (ONOO⁻)	delphinidin > cyanidin ≈ petunidin > malvidin ≈ (+)-catechin > peonidin > pelargonidin

That is a steeper fall than one methyl group would suggest, and the contrast with malvidin explains it: malvidin carries two methyls yet outranks peonidin, because both of malvidin’s sit at 3’ and 5’ and leave the 4’-hydroxyl intact. Peonidin’s single methyl also leaves 4’-OH free, but it starts from cyanidin’s two-hydroxyl catechol rather than delphinidin’s three, so capping one of them removes a larger share of what it had ^{11Reference 11Rahman MM et al. · 2006In vitroSuperoxide radical- and peroxynitrite-scavenging activity of anthocyanins; structure-activity relationship and their synergism — in vitroView study →}. The same study found that the aglycone mattered more than the attached sugar, and that the pigments assayed as a mixture scavenged synergistically — more than their separate activities predicted ^{11Reference 11Rahman MM et al. · 2006In vitroSuperoxide radical- and peroxynitrite-scavenging activity of anthocyanins; structure-activity relationship and their synergism — in vitroView study →}. Cranberry’s value is not that peonidin is a strong scavenger; it is that peonidin arrives inside a mixture.

In cranberry and purple sweet potato, peonidin glycosides are not a trace curiosity but a dominant pigment class — the reason this otherwise data-thin aglycone is worth a page ^{3,4Reference 3Urbstaite R et al. · 2022Phytogenotypic anthocyanin profiles and antioxidant activity variation in fruit samples of the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton)View study →Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →}.

What It's Used For

Beyond its role as a pigment, peonidin’s pharmacology is thin and almost entirely indirect — carried by its glycosides or by whole cranberry / purple-sweet-potato extracts, in cell and animal models, with essentially no isolated-aglycone human data.

Evidence by IndicationStrength of support · Beta

Support is an experimental score — weighted by study type (human > animal > in vitro) and volume. A beta, not a validated metric. The free aglycone has essentially no isolated human data, so scores stay low by design; each row rests on a glycoside or whole-food extract, not the aglycone.

01Antioxidant (property)Shaky38%Cell-free / cell assays on peonidin monomers; weaker than cyanidin ^{1,4Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →}

02Metabolic / hepaticShaky26%Peonidin-3-glucoside in a NAFLD cell model ^{7Reference 7Hao R et al. · 2023Peonidin-3-O-glucoside from purple corncob ameliorates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating mitochondrial and lysosome functions to reduce oxidative stress and inflammationView study →}

03Anticancer (whole-food extract)Shaky24%Purple-sweet-potato P40 extract, colon cells + mice ^{5Reference 5Lim S et al. · 2013Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer preventionView study →}

04Bone / osteoblastShaky20%Peonidin-3-glucoside in transgenic medaka ^{6Reference 6Ren Z et al. · 2021Peonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin increase osteoblast differentiation and reduce RANKL-induced bone resorption in transgenic medakaView study →}

05Prebiotic / gut microbiotaShaky18%Peonidin anthocyanin monomers in vitro ^{4Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →}

Mechanisms

Every row is a glycoside or whole-extract effect; the one property intrinsic to the aglycone — radical scavenging — is deliberately noted as weaker than cyanidin’s because of the methylated B-ring.

Pharmacokinetics

Peonidin shares the anthocyanidin PK problem. Anthocyanins are notoriously poorly bioavailable: in the definitive ¹³C-tracer human study of the close relative cyanidin-3-glucoside (500 mg oral), relative bioavailability was only ~12%, with mere traces of parent compound and most of the label appearing as downstream metabolites ^{10Reference 10Czank C et al. · 2013Human metabolism and elimination of the anthocyanin cyanidin-3-glucoside: a ¹³C-tracer studyView study →}. The free aglycone is unstable at neutral pH, so peonidin barely exists as such in plasma — it is a transient deglycosylation/breakdown species. Its characteristic human metabolite is vanillic acid (from the guaiacyl B-ring); vanillic and homovanillic acids are among the most abundant phenolic acids recovered after berry-anthocyanin intake, and de Ferrars’ human PK work identifies vanillic acid among the circulating anthocyanin metabolites ^{8,9Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →Reference 9Nurmi T et al. · 2009Metabolism of berry anthocyanins to phenolic acids in humansView study →}. Much of the biological effect attributed to “peonidin” is therefore better assigned to its glycosides plus vanillic acid than to the intact aglycone. Where the losses happen has been mapped directly: in healthy volunteers and ileostomists, about 30% of ingested bilberry anthocyanins survived the 8-hour passage through the upper intestine, mostly intact anthocyanins were absorbed from the small intestine, circulation was dominated by glucuronides, and subjects with an intact colon carried substantially more anthocyanins and degradants than those without — making the colon a significant absorption site rather than only a place where pigments are destroyed ^{12Reference 12Mueller D et al. · 2017Clinical trialHuman intervention study to investigate the intestinal accessibility and bioavailability of anthocyanins from bilberries — human volunteersView study →}. Formulation shifts those numbers: whey-protein encapsulation modulated short-term bioavailability, and citrus-pectin encapsulation raised small-intestinal accessibility and altered plasma formation of the degradant phloroglucinol aldehyde ^{13Reference 13Mueller D et al. · 2018Clinical trialEncapsulation of anthocyanins from bilberries — effects on bioavailability and intestinal accessibility in humans — clinical trialView study →}.

Clinical Trials

There are essentially no trials of isolated peonidin — its instability makes that impractical. Human data touching peonidin come from cranberry and anthocyanin-mixture studies where it is one pigment among many, or from pharmacokinetic work on related anthocyanins ^{8Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →}; the metabolic, anticancer, bone and prebiotic findings above are all preclinical and use glycosides or whole extracts ^{4,5,6,7Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →Reference 5Lim S et al. · 2013Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer preventionView study →Reference 6Ren Z et al. · 2021Peonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin increase osteoblast differentiation and reduce RANKL-induced bone resorption in transgenic medakaView study →Reference 7Hao R et al. · 2023Peonidin-3-O-glucoside from purple corncob ameliorates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating mitochondrial and lysosome functions to reduce oxidative stress and inflammationView study →}. Attribute any human signal to the food or the glycoside, never the aglycone.

Last checked: July 2026.

Isolate vs. Plant Studies

The isolated peonidin aglycone is almost never the thing tested. The antioxidant, metabolic, anticancer, bone and prebiotic data all use either a glycoside (peonidin-3-glucoside, peonidin-3-galactoside) or a whole anthocyanin extract — purple-sweet-potato P40, cranberry, or a five-pigment purple-sweet-potato fraction ^{4,5,6,7Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →Reference 5Lim S et al. · 2013Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer preventionView study →Reference 6Ren Z et al. · 2021Peonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin increase osteoblast differentiation and reduce RANKL-induced bone resorption in transgenic medakaView study →Reference 7Hao R et al. · 2023Peonidin-3-O-glucoside from purple corncob ameliorates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating mitochondrial and lysosome functions to reduce oxidative stress and inflammationView study →}. In every whole-extract study peonidin is one contributor among cyanidin, other anthocyanins and co-occurring phenolics, so its individual role cannot be separated out. The one property that is genuinely aglycone-intrinsic — radical scavenging — is a cell-free chemical measurement, and even there peonidin is out-performed by cyanidin ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}. Human relevance is further limited by poor bioavailability: exposure is dominated by low-level intact glycoside and by phenolic-acid metabolites, chiefly vanillic acid ^{8,9Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →Reference 9Nurmi T et al. · 2009Metabolism of berry anthocyanins to phenolic acids in humansView study →}.

Prevalence in Nature

Peonidin occurs widely in red and purple plant tissue, always as its glycosides rather than the free aglycone. Its two headline sources are:

• Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon). Peonidin-3-galactoside and peonidin-3-arabinoside, with the two matching cyanidin glycosides, make up roughly 90% of cranberry’s anthocyanins; peonidin-3-galactoside alone reached up to ~2.74 mg/g fresh weight in one cultivar survey ^{3Reference 3Urbstaite R et al. · 2022Phytogenotypic anthocyanin profiles and antioxidant activity variation in fruit samples of the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton)View study →}. Because peonidin and cyanidin dominate together, cranberry sits in the classical “cyanidin/peonidin group” of anthocyanin-bearing fruits ^{10Reference 10Czank C et al. · 2013Human metabolism and elimination of the anthocyanin cyanidin-3-glucoside: a ¹³C-tracer studyView study →}.
• Purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Its purple flesh is coloured largely by acylated peonidin (and cyanidin) glycosides, which is why purple-sweet-potato extracts are a common vehicle for peonidin research ^{4,5Reference 4Sun H et al. · 2018Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.)View study →Reference 5Lim S et al. · 2013Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer preventionView study →}.

Beyond these, peonidin glycosides colour grapes and red wine, plums, blueberries, cherries, purple corn, and the peony flowers it is named for ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}. Concentrations vary widely by species, cultivar, tissue and ripeness, and the free aglycone content is essentially never quantified because it does not accumulate as such.

Discovery & Synthesis

Peonidin was recognised as a distinct pigment through the classical anthocyanin chemistry of the early twentieth century, taking its name from the peony (Paeonia) whose flowers carry its glycosides; it is one of the six common anthocyanidins established in that literature ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}. Chemically it is defined by its relationship to cyanidin — the 3’-O-methyl ether — and is produced in plants by O-methyltransferase action on cyanidin’s catechol B-ring ^{1Reference 1Mattioli R et al. · 2020ReviewAnthocyanins: a comprehensive review of their chemical properties and health effects on cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseasesView study →}. There is no meaningful commercial synthesis or manufacture of the free aglycone: it is unstable and has no standalone use, so where peonidin is needed for research it is obtained as its glycosides by extraction from pigment-rich plants (purple sweet potato, grape, cranberry) rather than made as the aglycone.

Patents: not yet researched.

Toxicity & Safety

Peonidin and its glycosides are ordinary dietary pigments, eaten routinely in cranberry, purple sweet potato, grapes, berries and purple corn, and are regarded as safe at normal food levels. Anthocyanin and berry/cranberry supplements are well tolerated in trials at intakes above dietary levels. No specific drug interactions are established for isolated peonidin, and its poor systemic bioavailability further limits any systemic-toxicity concern; any theoretical additive antioxidant or mild antiplatelet effect from anthocyanin-rich intake is unconfirmed.

Reproductive and developmental safety has not been characterised for the isolated aglycone; as with other anthocyanidins, pregnancy and lactation decisions belong to the specific food or product page where intake is actually decided, not to this molecule page.

Safety at a Glance

✅ Low / no toxicity

• Ordinary dietary pigment. Consumed routinely in cranberry, purple sweet potato, grapes and berries; regarded as safe at food levels.
• Well tolerated as extracts. Cranberry and anthocyanin supplements are well tolerated in trials above dietary intake.
• No isolate-specific safety dataset. The low rating rests on the dietary track record of peonidin-rich foods, not on toxicology of the pure aglycone.
• Effects belong to glycosides / whole foods. Any benefit or interaction should be read against the glycoside or extract actually studied, not the unstable free molecule.

Dosage

There is no established dose for isolated peonidin — it is not sold as a standalone supplement and is chemically unstable. For research context only (glycoside and whole-food figures, not aglycone dosing, and not a recommendation): the purple-sweet-potato P40 anticancer work dosed colon-cancer cells at 0–40 µM peonidin-3-glucoside equivalent ^{5Reference 5Lim S et al. · 2013Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer preventionView study →}; the bone study used peonidin-3-glucoside at 1–4 µg/mL in medaka ^{6Reference 6Ren Z et al. · 2021Peonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin increase osteoblast differentiation and reduce RANKL-induced bone resorption in transgenic medakaView study →}; and human anthocyanin exposure is generally studied through whole cranberry, berry or purple-sweet-potato extracts and through anthocyanin pharmacokinetic boluses, where absorption is only a few percent ^{8Reference 8de Ferrars RM et al. · 2014The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humansView study →}. These are research figures, not a personal recommendation.

References

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2. Fang J (2015). Classification of fruits based on anthocyanin types and relevance to their health effects. Nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26250485/
3. Urbstaite R, Raudone L, Janulis V (2022). Phytogenotypic anthocyanin profiles and antioxidant activity variation in fruit samples of the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton). Antioxidants (Basel). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35204133/
4. Sun H, Zhang P, Zhu Y, Lou Q, He S (2018). Antioxidant and prebiotic activity of five peonidin-based anthocyanins extracted from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.). Scientific Reports. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29568082/
5. Lim S, Xu J, Kim J, et al. (2013). Role of anthocyanin-enriched purple-fleshed sweet potato p40 in colorectal cancer prevention. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23784800/
6. Ren Z, Raut NA, Lawal TO, Patel SR, Lee SM, Mahady GB (2021). Peonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin increase osteoblast differentiation and reduce RANKL-induced bone resorption in transgenic medaka. Phytotherapy Research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34704297/
7. Hao R, Shan S, Yang D, Zhang H, Sun Y, Li Z (2023). Peonidin-3-O-glucoside from purple corncob ameliorates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by regulating mitochondrial and lysosome functions to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Nutrients. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36678243/
8. de Ferrars RM, Czank C, Zhang Q, et al. (2014). The pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and their metabolites in humans. British Journal of Pharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24602005/
9. Nurmi T, Mursu J, Heinonen M, Nurmi A, Hiltunen R, Voutilainen S (2009). Metabolism of berry anthocyanins to phenolic acids in humans. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19231863/
10. Czank C, Cassidy A, Zhang Q, et al. (2013). Human metabolism and elimination of the anthocyanin cyanidin-3-glucoside: a ¹³C-tracer study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23604435/
11. Rahman MM, Ichiyanagi T, Komiyama T, et al. (2006). Superoxide radical- and peroxynitrite-scavenging activity of anthocyanins; structure-activity relationship and their synergism — in vitro. Free Radical Research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17015281/
12. Mueller D, Jung K, Winter M, et al. (2017). Human intervention study to investigate the intestinal accessibility and bioavailability of anthocyanins from bilberries — human volunteers. Food Chemistry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28450007/
13. Mueller D, Jung K, Winter M, et al. (2018). Encapsulation of anthocyanins from bilberries — effects on bioavailability and intestinal accessibility in humans — clinical trial. Food Chemistry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29329847/

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