Carotenoids secondary antioxidant

Besides the engineering of S. cerevisiae for organic acid production, through metabolic engineering it is possible to reconstruct entire pathways. In 1994, Yamano et al. [163] reported the reconstruction of a complete secondary metabolic pathway in S. cerevisiae, resulting in the ability of the yeast to produce p-carotene and lycopene. Carotenoids are a class of pigments used in the food industry and, due to their antioxidant properties, they have wide commercial interest. The biosynthesis of these compounds does naturally not occur in S. cerevisiae and to allow... 

Research into food safety, both microbial and chemical food safety, has been accompanied by a parallel effort to identify, test, and optimize healthy constituents of foods. The interest in chemicals in foods extends beyond traditional areas - vitamins, essential minerals, etc. - to secondary chemicals sometimes termed phytonutrients or neutraceuticals which have positive health benefits including prevention or alleviation of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer s disease, cancer, arthritis, and many other diseases. Food producers use this information as a marketing tool. Compounds of interest include phenols/polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and several other classes that function as antioxidants,... 

---