Lutein pigmentation

Pigments chlorophyll lutein Pigments decrease chlorophyll lutein ... 

One of the xanthophyll pigments present in various leaves, seeds and fruits, and in yolk of egg. It is often present in company with lutein, of which it is an isomer. It bears the same relation to -carotene as lutein does to a-caro tene. 

Solvent extraction removes chlorophyll and other pigments to give a light-colored product but increases processing costs. Furthermore, solvent extraction removes p-carotene and reduces vitamin A activity (89) (see Terpenoids Vitamins). Supercritical CO2 extraction at 30 and 70 MPa (4,350 and 10,150 psi) and 40°C removed 90 and 70% carotene and lutein, respectively, from alfalfa LPC (96). This process avoids organic solvent residues and recovers valuable by-products. 

Most carotenoids have no pro-vitamin A activity with the notable exceptions of P-carotene, and to a lesser extent a-carotene and P-cryptoxanthin. They act as macular pigments (lutein and zeaxanthin) and they have antioxidant and biochemical properties other than pro-vitamin A activity. 

JOHNSON E J, HAMMOND B R, YEUM K, J, QIN J, WANG X D, CASTANEDA C, SNODDERLY D M and RUSSELL R M (2000) Relation among serum and tissue concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin and macular pigment density. Am J Clin Nutr. 71(6) 1555-62. 

LANDRUM J T and BONE R A (2001) Lutein, zeaxanthin, and the macular pigment . Arch Biochem Biophys, 385, 28-40. 

Most of this amount is in the form of fucoxanthin in various algae and in the three main carotenoids of green leaves lutein, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin. Others produced in much smaller amounts but found widely are p-carotene and zeaxanthin. The other pigments found in certain plants are lycopene and capsanthin (Figure 2.2.1). Colorant preparations have been made from all of these compounds and obviously the composition of a colorant extract reflects the profile of the starting material. Carotenoids are probably the best known of the food colorants derived from natural sources. ... 

Typically several different carotenoids occur in plant tissues containing this class of pigments. Carotenoids are accumulated in chloroplasts of all green plants as mixtures of a- and P-carotene, P-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin. These pigments are found as complexes formed by noncovalent bonding with proteins. In green leaves, carotenoids are free, nonesterified, and their compositions depend on the plant and developmental conditions. In reproductive... 

Landrum, J.T. and Bone, R.A., Lutein, zeaxanthin and the macular pigment. Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 385, 28, 2001. 

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. 

A close relationship exists between physicochemical properties of pigment molecules and their ability to be absorbed and thus to exhibit biological functions. Carotenoids are hydrophobic molecules that require a lipophilic environment. In vivo, they are found in precise locations and orientations within biological membranes. For example, the dihydroxycarotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin orient themselves perpendicularly to the membrane surface as molecular rivets in order to expose their hydroxyl groups to a more polar environment. 

Thonsands of paprika varieties belong to the Capsicum genns and they vary widely in their sizes, shapes, colors, flavors, and pungency levels. The major carotenoids fonnd in red paprika are capsanthin and capsornbin, which posses k end gronp. Yellow pigments such as lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin, and 3-carotene... 

Treatment of marigold meal, oleoresin, or formulations containing lutein with strongly alkaline aqueous solutions under controlled conditions to isomerize lutein into zeaxanthin, a product with greater pigmenting activity... 

Batista, A.P. et al., Phycocyanin and Lutein colored food emulsions relation between pigment concentration and structural properties, in Proceedings of 3rd International Congress on Pigments in Food, Le Berre, Qnunper, France, 2004, 118. 

Replacement of the hydrogen at the 3 or 3 position of the carotene ring with a hydroxyl is the next step in both branches of the pathway. Hydroxylation of the rings of the carotenes leads to biosynthesis of the xanthophylls, including the well-known lutein and zeaxanthin food pigments. Lutein is formed by hydroxylation of a-carotene zeaxanthin is formed by hydroxylation of P-carotene. 

Gruszecki, W.I., A. Sujak, K. Strzalka, A. Radunz, and G.H. Schmid. 1999. Organisation of xanthophyll-lipid membranes studied by means of specific pigment antisera, spectrophotometry and monomolecular layer technique lutein versus zeaxanthin. Z. Naturforsch. C 54 517-525. 

Sujak, A. and W.I. Gruszecki. 2000. Organization of mixed monomolecular layers formed with the xanthophyll pigments lutein or zeaxanthin and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine at the argon-water interface. J. Photochem. Photobiol. B Biol. 59 42-41. 

Sujak, A., W. Okulski, and W.I. Gruszecki. 2000. Organisation of xanthophyll pigments lutein and zeaxanthin in lipid membranes formed with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1509 255-263. 

Berendschot, T. T. J. M. et al. (2000). Influence of lutein supplementation on macular pigment, assessed with two objective techniques. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 41 3322-3326. 

Rodriguez-Carmona, M. et al. (2006). The effects of supplementation with lutein and/or zeaxanthin on human macular pigment density and colour vision. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics 26 137-147. 

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