Phenylpropanoid Metabolism and Biosynthesis of Anthocyanins

Fruit phenylpropanoids form an important part of the recommended human diet. Phenylpropanoids constitute the majority of the secondary metabolites in fruits. Several thousand phenylpropanoid compounds have been described in plants, of which those belonging to classes of hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols are highly abundant in fruits. The recent advances in understanding the regulation of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis have opened new possibilities to modify the qualitative and the quantitative composition of these compounds in fruits, both with traditional and modern breeding and cultivation technologies. Monolignols are source materials for biosynthesis of lignans and lignin. The biosynthesis of coumarins and stilbenoids are discussed in the chapter. The simultaneous accumulation of new information on health benefits of specific phenylpropanoid compounds or groups for human health and the factors that modulate the biosynthesis of the same compounds in plants will give guidelines for the future fruit breeding work.