Natural edible pigments play a paramount part in the food industry. Procyanidin B2 (PB2), one of the most representative naturally occurring edible pigments, is usually isolated from the seeds, fruits, and leaves of lots of common plants, such as grapes, Hawthorn, black soybean, as well as blueberry, and functions as a food additive in daily life. Notably, PB2 has numerous bioactivities and possesses the potential to treat/prevent a wide range of human diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, diabetic complications, atherosclerosis, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and the underlying mechanisms were partially elucidated, including mediating signaling pathways like NF-κB, MAPK, PI3K/Akt, apoptotic axis, and Nrf-2/HO-1. This paper presents a review of the natural sources, bioactivities, and the therapeutic/preventive potential of PB2 and the possible mechanisms, with the aim of promoting the development of PB2 as a functional food and providing references for its clinical application in the treatment of diseases.

天然食用色素在食品工业中发挥着至关重要的作用。原花青素B2（PB2）是最具代表性的天然食用色素之一，通常从葡萄、山楂、黑大豆、蓝莓等多种常见植物的种子、果实和叶子中分离出来，具有以下作用：日常生活中的食品添加剂。值得注意的是，PB2具有多种生物活性，具有治疗/预防多种人类疾病的潜力，例如糖尿病、糖尿病并发症、动脉粥样硬化和非酒精性脂肪肝，并且部分阐明了其潜在机制，包括介导信号传导NF-κB、MAPK、PI3K/Akt、凋亡轴和 Nrf-2/HO-1 等通路。本文对PB2的天然来源、生物活性、治疗/预防潜力及其可能机制进行综述，旨在促进PB2作为功能食品的发展，为其临床应用治疗疾病提供参考。 。