Violacein: properties and biological activities

Abstract

The violet pigment violacein is an indole derivative, isolated mainly from bacteria of the genus Chromobacterium, which exhibits important antitumoural, antimicrobial and antiparasitary properties. Furthermore, the formulation of violacein in different polymeric carriers developed so far offers alternative approaches to overcoming physiological barriers and undesirable physicochemical properties in vivo, thus improving its efficacy.