Introduction. Recently, plant natural food colorants have received a growing interest due to their therapeutic and preventive activities against various diseases. This study is aimed at evaluating the phytochemical composition by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and at evaluating the antiulcer effect of red beetroot betalains (BRB). Materials and Methods. Ethanol was used for gastric mucosa damage, ulcer, and inflammation induction in rat. Results. HPLC-DAD data revealed the existence of numerous compounds, including betanidin 5-glucoside (43.22%), isobetanidin 5-glucoside (18.47%), 2,17-bidecarboxy-neobetanin (7.07%), 2-O-glucosyl-betanin (4.03%), 17-decarboxy-betanidin (3.61%), neobetanin (3.24%), and eight other compounds whose yields were too low. In vitro as in gastric tissues in rats, BRB potentially inhibited key enzymes—relation to gastric ulceration and damage as pepsin, lipoxygenase, and hyaluronidase activities. In ethanol-induced gastric ulcer and inflammation, BRB administration at doses 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg significantly ( p ≤ 0.05 ) decreases the ulcer areas (UA) and index (UI); increases the curative index (CI) by 78.1, 78.4, and 78%, respectively; and ameliorates the pathological damage induced by ethanol. In addition, BRB administration to rat gastric ulcer rats prevented significantly ( p ≤ 0.05 ) the decrease of gastric mucus (GM) content (by 116%) and reduced the stress oxidant, evidenced by a significant ( p ≤ 0.05 ) decrease of gastric mucosa thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) (by 28%) and mucus juice pepsin by 56%. Conclusion. Taken together, BRB exerted potential therapeutic efficacy for gastric ulceration.

Fatma Saad

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