Fruit pigments carotenoids

Carotenoids are pigments found in some fruits and vegetables, including spinach. 

Ebadi s Chapter 19 takes up the class of compounds known as carotenoids, which are known to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and head and neck cancers. Carotenoids are pigments ranging from yellow to deep red, as found in many common vegetables and fruits, including carrots, leading to the present-day recommendation to consume colorful fruits and vegetables. 

Carotenoids, which occur in all plants, bacteria, and fungi, are probably the most widely distributed of all natural pigments they are involved in many fundamental processes such as photosynthesis and mammalian vision. These highly unsaturated lipids also serve as vegetative, floral, and fruit pigments in plants and as pigments in the feathers of birds, outer parts of insects, as well as the skins of fish and other animals (Britton, 1976, 1983 Buchecker, 1982 Kayser, 1982). 

Carotenoids are natural pigments characterized by a tail to tail linkage between two C20 units and an extended conjugated system of double bonds They are the most widely dis tributed of the substances that give color to our world and occur m flowers fruits plants insects and animals It has been estimated that biosynthesis from acetate produces approximately a hundred million tons of carotenoids per year The most familiar carotenoids are lycopene and (3 carotene pigments found m numerous plants and easily isolable from npe tomatoes and carrots respectively... 

The carotenoids are the most widespread group of pigments in nature, with an estimated yield of 100 million tonnes per annum. They are present in all photosynthetic organisms and responsible for most of the yellow to red colours of fruits and flowers. The characteristic colours of many birds, insects and marine invertebrates are also due to the presence of carotenoids, which have originated in the diet. Animals are unable to synthesise carotenoids de novo, and so rely upon the diet as the source of these compounds. Carotenoids found in the human diet are primarily derived from crop plants, where the carotenoids are located in roots, leaves, shoots, seeds, fruit and flowers. To a lesser extent, carotenoids are also ingested from eggs, poultry and fish. Commercially, carotenoids are used as food colourants and in nutritional supplements (Table 13.1). Over recent years there has been considerable... 

Carotenoids are lipid-soluble pigments responsible for many of the brilliant red, orange, and yellow colors in edible fruits (lemons, peaches, apricots, oranges, strawberries, cherries, etc.), vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, etc.), fungi (chanterelles), flow-... 

Lycopene is a bright red pigment that colors several ripe fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Tomato and tomato products are the main dietary sources of this carotenoid, although it is also found in watermelons, guavas, pink grapefruits, and in small quantities in at least 40 plants. - The absorption of lycopene in the human gut is increased by heat treatment, probably because the breakdown of the plant cells makes the pigment more accessible. ... 

Aoki, H. et al.. Carotenoid pigments in gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis spreng), Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 66, 2479, 2002. 

Mezadri, T., Perez-Galvez, A., and Homero-Mendez, D., Carotenoid pigments in acerola fruits (Malpighia emarginata DC.) and derived products, Eur. Food Res. Technol., 220, 63, 2005. 

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