Journal of Natural Medicines· 2019Q2· Review
Carotenoids as natural functional pigments
- 1,252citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2019year
Short summary
Carotenoids, a diverse group of ~850 natural pigments, are synthesized by photosynthetic organisms and accumulated or modified in animals, playing crucial roles as antioxidants, photoprotectors, and precursors for vitamin A and plant hormones.
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Key points
- Approximately 850 natural carotenoid structures have been identified.
- Carotenoids are synthesized de novo by photosynthetic organisms but accumulated or modified in animals.
- Functions include roles in photosynthesis, photoprotection, antioxidant activity, and as precursors for vitamin A and plant hormones.
- Animal carotenoids show structural diversity due to metabolic pathways.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Carotenoids are tetraterpene pigments that are distributed in photosynthetic bacteria, some species of archaea and fungi, algae, plants, and animals. About 850 naturally occurring carotenoids had been reported up until 2018. Photosynthetic bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants can synthesize carotenoids de novo. Carotenoids are essential pigments in photosynthetic organs along with chlorophylls. Carotenoids also act as photo-protectors, antioxidants, color attractants, and precursors of plant hormones in non-photosynthetic organs of plants. Animals cannot synthesize carotenoids de novo, and so those found in animals are either directly accumulated from food or partly modified through metabolic reactions. So, animal carotenoids show structural diversity. Carotenoids in animals play important roles such precursors of vitamin A, photo-protectors, antioxidants, enhancers of immunity, and contributors to reproduction. In the present review, I describe the structural diversity, function, biosyntheses, and metabolism of natural carotenoids.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Natural Medicines, 2019 · DOI ↗
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Field: Biochemistry (Medicine)
BiochemistryMedicine