Currently, 1178 natural carotenoids have been properly characterized and reported in the literature, which present a huge structural diversity and physicochemical properties. This number comprises a wide distribution of these biomolecules in approximately 700 source organisms including plants, bacteria, fungi, and algae. Besides having a wide applicability as natural dyes, some carotenoids such as β-carotene already have another well-established application such as provitamin A activity. However, due to the structural diversity of these molecules, there are still numerous biochemical and physiological functions to be associated with this class of compounds. Accordingly, these characteristics enable a wide applicability, what drives the global carotenoid market. Thus, with the primary objective of addressing aspects regarding to basic science and applied carotenoid technology, a comprehensive description of the biology, biochemistry, and chemistry of these compounds will be described in this chapter.
Interest in pigment composition of microalgae species is growing as new natural pigments sources are being sought. However, we still have a limited number of species of microalgae exploited to obtain these compounds. Considering these facts, the detailed composition of carotenoids and chlorophylls of two species of green microalgae (
Chlorella sorokiniana
and
Scenedesmus bijuga
) were determined for the first time by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array and mass spectrometry detectors (HPLC-PDA-MS/MS). A total of 17 different carotenoids were separated in all the extracts. Most of the carotenoids present in the two microalgae species are xanthophylls.
C. sorokiniana
presented 11 carotenoids (1408.46 μg g
−1
), and
S. bijuga
showed 16 carotenoids (1195.75 μg g
−1
). The main carotenoids detected in the two microalgae were all-
trans
-lutein and all-
trans
-β-carotene. All-
trans
-lutein was substantially higher in
C. sorokiniana
(59.01%), whereas all-
trans
-β-carotene was detected in higher quantitative values in
S. bijuga
(13.88%). Seven chlorophyll compounds were identified in both strains with different proportions in each species. Concentrations of chlorophyll representing 7.6% and 10.2% of the composition of the compounds present in the biomass of
C. sorokiniana
and
S. bijuga
, respectively. Relevant chlorophyll compounds are reported for the first time in these strains. The data obtained provide significant insights for microalgae pigment composition databases.
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