Problem statement: Some vegetable oils contains natural antioxidants such as beta carotene and vitamin E namely tocopherol and tocotrienol. Different vegetable oils contained different amount of vitamin E and β-carotene. Approach: Study was carried out to investigate the natural antioxidants (vitamin E and beta carotene) composition in four different vegetable oils [Red Palm Olein (RPO), palm p...

Feed containing beta-carotene was administered orally to BALB/c mice immunized intraperitoneally with ovalbumin (OVA) for approximately 1 month. The titers of OVA-specific IgE, OVA-specific IgG1 and OVA-specific IgG2a in the mouse sera were determined. The OVA-specific IgE titer and OVA-specific IgG1 titer by mice fed beta-carotene were significantly inhibited. On the other hand, the OVA-specif...

Previous epidemiological studies have revealed the anti-cancer effect of dietary circulating carotenoids. However, the protective role of specific individual circulating carotenoids has not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine whether serum carotenoids, including α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein/zeaxanthin, could lower the risk for breast cancer ...

β-carotene is a commonly used food colorant. In this work, a novel β-carotene producing strain, Serratia marcescens RB3, was isolated and identified by physiological and biochemical tests, as well as 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The production of β-carotene by S. marcescens RB3 was identified through HPLC analysis. The cultivation conditions for β-carotene production by S. marcescens RB3 were op...

β-Carotene is an important dietary source of vitamin A for humans. However, the bioavailability and vitamin A equivalency of β-carotene are highly variable and can be affected by food- and diet-related factors, including the food matrix, food-processing techniques, size of the dose of β-carotene, and the amounts of dietary fat, fiber, vitamin A, and other carotenoids in the diet as well as by c...

To establish reference ranges for use in clinical and epidemiological studies, we determined concentrations of retinol, alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene in 450 Spanish control subjects and 123 Spanish patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Results were grouped according to sex, and samples were collected thr...

Two major carotenoids of the stick insect were reinvestigated and shown to be /?,/?-caroten-2-ol and /?,/?-carotene-2,2'-diol and not isocryptoxanthin (/?,/?-caroten-4-ol) and isozeaxanthin (/?,/?-carotene-4,4'-diol). Both pigments are esterified with fatty acids. The identification is based on cochromatography with authentic 2-, 3and 4-isomers of the monoand dihydroxy pigment, mass spectra, an...

Concentrations of beta-carotene were determined in maternal and fetal blood. The samples were collected from 33 mothers, their 33 newborns and 50 pregnant and 29 non-pregnant women. Beta-carotene concentrations of the non-pregnant, pregnant, newborn infant and their mothers were 140.31, 171.54, 63.57 and 175.74 micrograms/dl, respectively. There was a significant correlation (P < 0.001) between...

The IARC convened a Working Group of experts in December 1997 to evaluate the cancer-preventive potential of carotenoids and to compile the second volume of the IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention. In observational epidemiological studies, beta-carotene is associated with reduced risks for cancer at many but not all sites. It is unclear, however, to what extent beta-carotene itself is responsib...

1. The presence of astaxanthin in the shell of Ophidiaster ophidianus is confirmed, and that of #-carotene and cryptoxanthin demonstrated. neop-Carotene B and y-carotene are also probably present. 2. Three new pigments are reported: two are probably keto-carotenoids. 3. The quantitative distribution of carotenoids in the shell of 0. ophidianus is recorded. 4. A possible biosynthetic route from ...