Carotenoids are essential ingredients in animal feed. They are not only important as pigments but serve as health promoting antioxidants and as a precursor of vitamin A. Because of their importance in visual perception of animal products, such as eggs, and their central role in health and well being of the animal, carotenoid content needs to be carefully monitored. Carotenoids are present in th...

Originally it was proposed that dietary access alone might explain variation in expression of carotenoid pigmentation (Endler 1980; Kodric-Brown 1985; Hill 1990). By this idea, carotenoids are scarce in the environment, and only those individuals in the best condition gain access to sufficient carotenoids for maximum ornament display. To this idea of limited access was added the idea that paras...

Carotenoids are a family of about 700 fat-soluble molecules that are only produced by phytoplankton, algae, plants, and a limited number of fungi and bacteria. Beta-carotene was named after its isolation from carrots and is probably the most familiar carotenoid. It is categorized as a ‘carotene’ whereas other carotenoids with additional oxygenated groups, such as lutein, are ‘xanthophyll’ (ZAN-...

The use of carotenoids for yolk, skin and leg pigmentation is a common practice in poultry production. Lutein and zeaxanthin are naturally present in many feedstuffs like alfalfa or corn and are the main carotenoids naturally present in the yolk (>80%). That is why they are also supplemented as feed supplements in diets lacking suitable levels. Other natural (capsanthin) and synthetic (cantaxan...

introduction: pumpkin is one of the agricultural products that despite its very low price, is known as a rich source of carotenoids with high antioxidant activity. iran is one of the good producers of pumpkin at the world with fifth rank which is cultivated at provinces like mazandaran, guilan, khorasan, and hamedan and so on extensively. pumpkin is almost available for entire the year but many...

Carotenoids are thought to diminish the incidence of certain degenerative diseases, but the mechanisms involved in their intestinal absorption are poorly understood. Our aim was to obtain basic data on the fate of carotenoids in the human stomach and duodenum. Ten healthy men were intragastrically fed three liquid test meals differing only in the vegetable added 3 wk apart and in a random order...

Carotenoids play the dual function of light harvesting and photoprotection in photosynthetic organisms. Despite their functional importance, the molecular basis for binding of carotenoids in the photosynthetic proteins is poorly understood. We have discovered that all carotenoids are surrounded either by aromatic residues or by chlorophylls in all known crystal structures of the photosynthetic ...

The imbalance of oxidant/antioxidant plays an important role in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is increasing evidence that individuals with high antioxidative nutrient levels in the diet or in blood tend to maintain better lung function. This study was conducted to determine whether COPD patients in Taiwan have lower plasma concentrations of antioxidative...

Chlorosomes comprise thousands of bacteriochlorophylls (BChl c, d, or e) in a closely packed structure surrounded by a lipid-protein envelope and additionally contain considerable amounts of carotenoids, quinones, and BChl a. It has been suggested that carotenoids in chlorosomes provide photoprotection by rapidly quenching triplet excited states of BChl via a triplet-triplet energy transfer mec...