The objective of this research was to survey the antioxidant functional role of the main anthocyanins of blueberries in endothelial cells. Changes on the reactive oxygen species (ROS), xanthine oxidase-1 (XO-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in cells of malvidin and the two glycosides were investigated. The results showed that these anthocyanins decreased the levels of ROS and XO-1 but increased the levels of SOD and HO-1. Glycosides improved the antioxidant capacity of malvidin to a great extent. The changes in the antioxidant properties of malvidin-3-glucoside were more pronounced than malvidin-3-galactoside. Variation in levels of malvidin-3-glucoside and malvidin-3-galactoside had a significant impact on antioxidant properties to different extents. It indicates that blueberries are a good resource of anthocyanins, which can protect cells from oxidative deterioration and use blueberry as a potential functional food to prevent diseases related to oxidative stress.
