Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Carotenoids (/ k ə ˈ r ɒ t ɪ n ɔɪ d /) are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. [1] Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins , carrots , parsnips , corn , tomatoes , canaries , flamingos , salmon , lobster , shrimp , and daffodils .
All other carotenoids, including lycopene, have no beta-ring and thus no vitamin A activity (although they may have antioxidant activity and thus biological activity in other ways). Animal species differ greatly in their ability to convert retinyl (beta-ionone) containing carotenoids to retinals. Carnivores in general are poor converters of ...
β-Carotene (beta-carotene) is an organic, strongly colored red-orange pigment abundant in fungi, [7] plants, and fruits. It is a member of the carotenes, which are terpenoids (isoprenoids), synthesized biochemically from eight isoprene units and thus having 40 carbons.
Vitamin A occurs as two principal forms in foods: A) retinoids, found in animal-sourced foods, either as retinol or bound to a fatty acid to become a retinyl ester, and B) the carotenoids α-carotene (alpha-carotene), β-carotene, γ-carotene (gamma-carotene), and the xanthophyll beta-cryptoxanthin (all of which contain β-ionone rings) that ...
In addition, there are many non-chlorophyll accessory pigments, such as carotenoids or phycobiliproteins, which also absorb light and transfer that light energy to photosystem chlorophyll. Some of these accessory pigments, in particular the carotenoids, also serve to absorb and dissipate excess light energy, or work as antioxidants. [1]
orange pigments . α-Carotene – to vitamin A carrots, pumpkins, maize, tangerine, orange.; β-Carotene – to vitamin A dark, leafy greens, red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables.
Carotenoids with preferential affinity to different organs may serve as a vector for the whole particles and for more targeted delivery of their “cargo” of bioactive molecules. Inclusion of carotenoids into complexes with hydrophobic bioactive molecules, which have metabolic or therapeutic targets in particular organs, can reduce their ...
Carotenoids are the most common group of pigments found in nature. [18] Over 600 different kinds of carotenoids are found in animals, plants, and microorganisms. Marine animals are incapable of making their own carotenoids and thus rely on plants for these pigments. Carotenoproteins are especially common among marine animals.