Natural colorants lycopene

Lycopene is presently of particular interest for the food and pharmaceutical industries, both as a natural colorant and as a nutraceutical. People knowledge and... 

Researchers have begun to pay attention to the physiological functions of natural colorants and have tried to apply them for use in food products. Many papers and patents have been published relating to the effects of CyDs on natural colorants. CyDs are used for the stabilization and solubilization of natural colorants [24-27]. There is a strange common characteristic among the natural red colorants such as anthocyanin, lycopene, and astaxanthine, namely that of the native a.-, P-, and y-CyDs it is y-CyD that is most effective in stabilizing all three natural red colorants. 

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... 

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. ... 

Nguyen, M.L. Schwartz, S.J. 2000. Lycopene. In Natural Food Colorants Science and Technology (Lauro, G. Francis, F.J., Eds.). Marcel Dekker, New York. 

Hydrocarbons Containing Several Double Bonds. Some important natural products are hydrocarbons containing several double bonds. For example, the red coloring matter of tomatoes, called lycopene, is an unsaturated hydrocarbon, C oHge, with the structure shown in Figure 29-2. 

Carotenoids. Carotenoids are fat-soluble pigments comprised of isoprene units and, in plants, are generally associated with membranes (30). Carotenoids are generally classified as either carotenes, which are structurally related to hydrocarbons, or xanthophylls which are hydroxy, epoxy and oxy derivatives and are frequently esterified. The carotenoids most important in Imparting color to fruits and vegetables are derivatives of a- and -carotenes and lycopene. Carotenoids vary in their stability but, due to their unsaturated nature, they are generally susceptible to oxidation. Carotenes are important to... 

Of the 600 or so carotenoids found in nature, about 40 are regularly consumed by humans. Carotenoids are commonly found in yellow, orange and green fruit and vegetables, and naturally occurring carotenoids, either synthetic or from natural sources, are added to food to enhance color. Amongst the carotenoids often used as colorants are /3-carotene, lycopene, lutein, astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. 

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