Carotenoids, antioxidant activity

The antioxidant activities of carotenoids and other phytochemicals in the human body can be measured, or at least estimated, by a variety of techniques, in vitro, in vivo or ex vivo (Krinsky, 2001). Many studies describe the use of ex vivo methods to measure the oxidisability of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles after dietary intervention with carotene-rich foods. However, the difficulty with this approach is that complex plant foods usually also contain other carotenoids, ascorbate, flavonoids, and other compounds that have antioxidant activity, and it is difficult to attribute the results to any particular class of compounds. One study, in which subjects were given additional fruits and vegetables, demonstrated an increase in the resistance of LDL to oxidation (Hininger et al., 1997), but two other showed no effect (Chopra et al, 1996 van het Hof et al., 1999). These differing outcomes may have been due to systematic differences in the experimental protocols or in the populations studied (Krinsky, 2001), but the results do indicate the complexity of the problem, and the hazards of generalising too readily about the putative benefits of dietary antioxidants. 

It has been established that carotenoid structure has a great influence in its antioxidant activity for example, canthaxanthin and astaxanthin show better antioxidant activities than 3-carotene or zeaxanthin. 3- 3 3-Carotene also showed prooxidant activity in oil-in-water emulsions evaluated by the formation of lipid hydroperoxides, hexanal, or 2-heptenal the activity was reverted with a- and y-tocopherol. Carotenoid antioxidant activity against radicals has been established. In order of decreasing activity, the results are lycopene > 3-cryptoxanthin > lutein = zeaxanthin > a-carotene > echineone > canthaxanthin = astaxanthin. ... 

Fruifs and vegetables also contain ofher bioactive substances such as polyphenols (including well-known pigments anthocyanins, flavonols) and non-provitamin A carotenoids (mainly lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) that may have protective effects on chronic diseases. Polyphenols and carotenoids are known to display antioxidant activities, counteracting oxidative alterations in cells. Besides these antioxidant properties, these colored bioactive substances may exert other actions on cell signaling and gene expression. 

Many reviews have been written about the antioxidant activities of carotenoids. Some also describe prooxidant activities. - In consequence, only selected points about this very broad subject will be presented in the first part of this chapter. Linked to these properties and important for food nutritional value is the stability of caro-... 

Many different methods have been used to evaluate the antioxidant capacities of isolated molecules, carotenoids, and other natural antioxidants and of foods and food extracts containing antioxidants. It is not the purpose of this chaper to review all the methods, but some general points can be made. First, when using only one test to evaluate the antioxidant capacities of carotenoids, one should be very careful in the interpretation of obtained data. Indeed, different results can be obtained with different tests applied to the same molecules. At least two different methods should be used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of a molecule or a food extract. " Second, lipophilicity is an important factor to consider in testing the antioxidant activities... 

Experimental evidence in humans is based upon intervention studies with diets enriched in carotenoids or carotenoid-contaiifing foods. Oxidative stress biomarkers are measured in plasma or urine. The inhibition of low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation has been posmlated as one mechanism by which antioxidants may prevent the development of atherosclerosis. Since carotenoids are transported mainly via LDL in blood, testing the susceptibility of carotenoid-loaded LDL to oxidation is a common method of evaluating the antioxidant activities of carotenoids in vivo. This type of smdy is more precisely of the ex vivo type because LDLs are extracted from plasma in order to be tested in vitro for oxidative sensitivity after the subjects are given a special diet. 

In atherosclerosis and other heart diseases, the role of carotenoids as antioxidants is probable, but for these types of diseases and also for other degenerative diseases such as cancers, non-antioxidant activities constitute other possible prevention mechanisms. These activities are, for example, stimulation of gap junction communications between cells, and the induction of detoxifying enzymes. The... 

A molecule that has a prooxidant effect can be dehned as a molecule that can react with reactive oxygen species (ROS) to form compounds more deleterious to biomolecules than the ROS alone. Possible prooxidant activity of carotenoids was for the first time mentioned by Burton and Ingold. Since then, many other examples of loss of antioxidant activity or prooxidant activity have been illustrated and reviewed in the literature. Increasing oxygen partial pressure (PO2) and/or carotenoid concentration can convert a carotenoid from antioxidant to prooxidant. Thus, depending on the environment, the same molecule can exert either antioxidant or prooxidant activity. ... 

In conclusion, oxidation of carotenoids by molecular oxygen, the so-called autoxidation process, is a complex phenomenon that is probably initiated by an external factor (radical, metal, etc.) and for which different mechanisms have been proposed. The autoxidation of a carotenoid is important to take into account when studying antioxidant activity because it can lower the apparent antioxidant activity of a carotenoid. ... 

Alonso-Alvarez, C., Bertrand, S., Devevey, G., Gaillard, M., Prost, J., Faivre, B., and Sorci, G. 2004. An experimental test of the dose-dependent effect of carotenoids and immune activation on sexual signals and antioxidant activity. Am. Nat. 164 651-659. 

Isaksson, C., McLaughlin, P., Monaghan, P., and Andersson, S. 2007. Carotenoid pigmentation does not reflect total non-enzymatic antioxidant activity in plasma of adult and nestling great tits, Parus major. Fund. Ecol. 21 1123-1129. 

Phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables are very diverse, such as ascorbic acid, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds (Liu 2004 Percival and others 2006 Syngletary and others 2005 Yahia and others 2001a, 2001b). Plant polyphenols are ubiquitous in the diet, with rich sources being tea, wine, fruits, and vegetables they demonstrate considerable antioxidative activity in vitro, which can have important implications for health (Duthie and others 2000). 

Naturally occurring compounds such as phytochemicals, which possess anticar-cinogenic and other beneficial properties, are referred to as chemopreventers. One of the predominant mechanisms of their protective action is due to their antioxidant activity and the capacity to scavenge free radicals. Among the most investigated chemopreventers are some vitamins, plant polyphenols, and pigments such as carotenoids, chlorophylls, flavonoids, and betalains. Resolution of the potential protective roles of... 

Tomato was reported to exert antioxidant activity in some studies (Vinson and others 1998 Kahkonen and others 1999), whereas it showed no antioxidant activity or even acted as a pro-oxidant in others (Gazzani and others 1998). The antioxidant effect of tomato is most probably due to synergism between several compounds and not due to lycopene content alone, as pure lycopene and several other carotenoids act as pro-oxidants in a lipid environment (Al-Saikhan and others 1995 Haila and others 1996). 

Fresh peppers are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, as well as neutral and acidic phenolic compounds (Howard and others 2000). Levels of these can vary by genotype and maturity and are influenced by growing conditions and processing (Mejia and others 1988 Howard and others 1994 Lee and others 1995 Daood and others 1996 Simmone and others 1997 Osuna-Garcia and others 1998 Markus and others 1999 Howard and others 2000). Peppers have been reported to be rich in the provitamin A carotenoids (3-carotene, a-carotene, and (3-cryptoxanthin (Minguez-Mosquera and Hornero-Mendez 1994 Markus and others 1999), as well as xanthophylls (Davies and others 1970 Markus and others 1999). Bell peppers have been shown to exert low antioxidant activity (Al-Saikhan and others 1995 Cao and others 1996 Vinson and others 1998) or may even act as pro-oxidants (Gazzani and others 1998). 

The antioxidant activity of carotenoids depends on the number of conjugated double bonds and possibly the presence of oxygenated functions in the molecule (Schmidt 2004). The high antioxidant activity of lycopene has been identified against singlet... 

Stahl W and Sies H. 2003. Antioxidant activity of carotenoids. Mol Aspects Med 24 345-351. 

Terao J. 1989. Antioxidant activity of 3-carotene-related carotenoids in solution. Lipids 24 659-661. 

Fruits and vegetables are generally high in water and low in fat, and, in addition to vitamins and minerals, they contain significant amounts of dietary fiber (DF) and phytochemicals—mainly polyphenols and carotenoids—with significant biological properties, including antioxidant activity. 

Some years later, Miller and others (1996) described a modified TEAC assay that is able to determine the antioxidant activity of carotenoids. In the improved version, ABTS,+, the oxidant, is generated by oxidation of 2,2 -azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)(ABTS2 ) with manganese dioxide. A similar approach was described by Re and others (1999) in which ABTS was oxidized with potassium persulfate (Fig. 10.2), this version of the TEAC assay is applicable to both water soluble and lipophilic antioxidants (Re and others 1999 Pellegrini and others 1999). 

Bors W, Michel C and Saran M. 1984. Inhibition of the bleaching of the carotenoid crocin. A rapid test for quantifying antioxidant activity. Biochim Biophys Acta Lipids Lipid Metab 796(3) 312-319. 

Leonardi C, Ambrosino P, Esposito F and Fogliano V. 2000. Antioxidative activity and carotenoid and tomatine contents in different typologies of fresh consumption tomatoes. J Agric Food Chem 48(10) 4723-4727. 

Pellegrini N, Re R, Yang M and Rice-Evans C. 1999. Screening of dietary carotenoids and carotenoid-rich fruit extracts for antioxidant activities applying 2,2 -azinobis(3-ethylenebenzothiazohne-6-sulfonic acid) radical cation decolorization assay. Methods Enzymol 299 379-389. 

Mclnerney JK, Seccafien CA, Stewart CM and Bird AR. 2007. Effects of high pressure processing on antioxidant activity, and total carotenoid content and availability, in vegetables. Innov Food Sci Emerg Technol 8 543-548. 

Carotenoids are of physiological interest because some of them are precursors of vitamin A. They have been in the news recently because many exhibit radical or single oxygen trapping ability and as such have potential antioxidant activity in vivo. They may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, cervical... 

Matsufuji H, Nakamura H, Chino M, Takeda M (1998) Antioxidant activity of capsanthin and the fatty acid esters in paprika (Capsicum annuum). J Agric Food Chem 46 3468-3472 WaU MM, WaddeU CA, Bosland PW (2001) Variation in P-carotene and total carotenoid content in fruits of Capsicum. HortScience 36 746-749... 

Carotenoids are isoprenoid compounds that are biosynthesized only by plants and microorganisms. Some carotenoids (a- and p-carotene, p-cryptoxanthine) can be cleaved into vitamin A (retinol) by an enzyme in the small intestine. Carotenoids have been reported to present some effects in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases [410] and in the prevention of some kind of cancers [411]. Furthermore, antioxidant activity has been widely reported [411-414] but a switch to pro-oxidant activity can occur as a function of oxygen concentration [415,416]. 

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