Carotenoids are a class of natural pigments familiar to all through the orange-red colours of popular foods like oranges, tomatoes and carrots and the yellow colour of many flowers. They have been studied for a number of years because of their diverse roles in photobiology, photochemistry and photo medicine. Carotenoids are also added as colorants to many manufactured foods, drinks, and animal feeds, either in the forms of natural extracts (e.g annatto, paprika or marigold extracts) or as pure compounds manufactured by chemical synthesis. Carotenoids are often described as provitamins A, as this particular vitamin is a product of carotenoid metabolism. The distribution of carotenoids among the different plant groups shows no obvious pattern. b-Carotene is the most abundant in leafy vegetables, though the colour is masked by its co-existence with chlorophyll, and this carotenoid has the highest vitamin A activity. Zeaxanthin, a-carotene and antheraxanthin are also present in small amounts. In the tomato, lycopene is the major carotenoid, while fruits contain varying proportions of cryptoxanthin, lutein and antheraxanthin. In this review paper the natural occurrence of carotenoids (with focus on certain natural extracts) is described along with its structure and physicochemical properties. The biosynthesis industrial synthesis and absorption of carotenoids is also discussed. Finally, a brief overview of analysis and properties of commonly available natural carotenoid extracts (annato, paprika, xanthophylls, lycopene) are also reported.

A Review of the Structure, Biosynthesis, Absorption of Carotenoids-Analysis and Properties of their Common Natural Extracts

Radical oxygen species formed in human tissue cells by many endogenous and exogenous pathways cause extensive oxidative damage which has been linked to various human diseases. This review paper provides an overview of lipid peroxidation and focuses on the free radicals-initiated processes of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidative modification and DNA oxidative damage, which are widely associated with the initiation and development of atherosclerosis and carcinogenesis, respectively. The article subsequently provides an overview of the recent human trials or even in vitro investigations on the potential of natural antioxidant compounds (such as carotenoids; vitamins C and E) to monitor LDL and DNA oxidative changes.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/7/10/133/pdf

Effect of Natural Food Antioxidants against LDL and DNA Oxidative Changes.

Development and validation of a rapid resolution liquid chromatography method for the screening of dietary plant isoprenoids: Carotenoids, tocopherols and chlorophylls

Natural carotenoids (CARs), viz. β-carotene, lutein, astaxanthin, bixin, norbixin, capsanthin, lycopene, canthaxanthin, β-Apo-8-carotenal, zeaxanthin, and β-apo-8-carotenal-ester, are being studied as potential candidates in fields such as food, feed, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. CAR research is advancing in the following three major fields: (1) CAR production from natural sources and optimization of its downstream processing; (2) encapsulation for enhanced physical and chemical properties; and (3) preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological studies of CARs’ health benefits. This review critically discusses the recent developments in studies of the chemistry and antioxidant activity, marketing trends, dietary sources, extraction, bioaccessibility and bioavailability, encapsulation methods, dietary intake, and health benefits of CARs. Preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological studies on cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular diseases (CVD), osteoporosis, neurodegenerative disease, mental health, eye, and skin health are also discussed.

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Carotenoids: Dietary Sources, Extraction, Encapsulation, Bioavailability, and Health Benefits—A Review of Recent Advancements

In recent years, high-throughput lipid profiling has contributed to understand the biological, physiological and pathological roles of lipids in living organisms. Across all kingdoms of life, important cell and systemic processes are mediated by lipids including compartmentalization, signaling and energy homeostasis. Despite important advances in liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, sample extraction procedures remain a bottleneck in lipidomic studies, since the wide structural diversity of lipids imposes a constrain in the type and amount of lipids extracted. Differences in extraction yield across lipid classes can induce a bias on down-stream analysis and outcomes. This review aims to summarize current lipid extraction techniques used for untargeted and targeted studies based on mass spectrometry. Considerations, applications, and limitations of these techniques are discussed when used to extract lipids in complex biological matrices, such as tissues, biofluids, foods, and microorganisms.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/10/6/231/pdf

Exploring the Lipidome: Current Lipid Extraction Techniques for Mass Spectrometry Analysis.

Carotenoids are versatile isoprenoids that are important in food quality and health promotion. There is a need to establish recommended dietary intakes/nutritional reference values for carotenoids. Research on carotenoids in agro-food and health is being propelled by the two multidisciplinary international networks, the Ibero-American Network for the Study of Carotenoids as Functional Foods Ingredients (IBERCAROT; http://www.cyted.org) and the European Network to Advance Carotenoid Research and Applications in Agro-Food and Health (EUROCAROTEN; http://www.eurocaroten.eu). In this review, considerations for their safe and sustainable use in products mostly intended for health promotion are provided. Specifically, information about sources, intakes, and factors affecting bioavailability is summarized. Furthermore, their health-promoting actions and importance in public health in relation to the contribution of reducing the risk of diverse ailments are synthesized. Definitions and regulatory and safety information for carotenoid-containing products are provided. Lastly, recent trends in research in the context of sustainable healthy diets are summarized.

Carotenoids: Considerations for Their Use in Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals, Nutricosmetics, Supplements, Botanicals, and Novel Foods in the Context of Sustainability, Circular Economy, and Climate Change.

Carotenoids and tocopherols are lipid secondary metabolites that play essential roles in plants. They are also relevant compounds from a nutritional standpoint and attract much attention due to their proposed antioxidant properties. In this chapter, methodologies for the extraction and HPLC analysis of these compounds are described as well as a widely used protocol to assess their antioxidant capacity.

Analysis of carotenoids and tocopherols in plant matrices and assessment of their in vitro antioxidant capacity.

RED TEMATICA IBERCAROT (referencia 112RT445) http://carotenoides.us.es
PROGRAMA IBEROAMERICANO DE CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA PARA EL DESARROLLO – CYTED

Paula Mapelli Brahm

Papers

Carotenoids: Considerations for Their Use in Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals, Nutricosmetics, Supplements, Botanicals, and Novel Foods in the Context of Sustainability, Circular Economy, and Climate Change.

Analysis of carotenoids and tocopherols in plant matrices and assessment of their in vitro antioxidant capacity.

Carotenoides en agroalimentación y salud