（1Institute of Economic Crops，Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences，Wuhan 430064，Hubei，China；2College of
Horticulture and Forestry Sciences，Huazhong Agricultural University，Wuhan 430070，Hubei，China；3Hubei Key Laboratory
of Vegetable Germplasm Enhancement and Genetic Improvement，Wuhan 430064，Hubei，China）
Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigment belonging to flavonoids compounds，and having
multiple biological functions，including protecting plant from UV damage，eliminating reactive oxygen
species，resisting stress and changing plant color and lustre，etc．At the same time，they have health
efficacy as anti-aging，preventing obesity and cardiovascular diseases，etc．A few lettuce varieties are
purple in phenotype，rich in anthocyanins．This paper described the biosynthesis and regulatory pathway
of anthocyanins in lettuce，and factors affecting anthocyanins accumulation in lettuce，aiming at providing
referrence information for developing lettuce functional foods rich in anthocyanins contents．
