The potential for the improvement of carotenoid levels in foods and the likely systemic effects

Abstract

Carotenoids form one of the most important classes of plant pigments and play a crucial role in defining the quality parameters of fruit and vegetables. Their role in the plant is to act as accessory pigments for light harvesting and in the prevention of photo‐oxidative damage, as well as acting as attractants for pollinators. Their function as antioxidants in the plant shows interesting parallels with their potential role as antioxidants in foods and humans. Carotenoids are products of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway. The enzymes leading to carotenoid biosynthesis have all been characterised, and more recently the genes encoding these enzymes have been cloned from bacteria, fungi and plants. New information on enzyme activities and the factors leading to the regulation of the pathway is reviewed. Vitamin A deficiency is a widespread problem in the developing world, causing blindness, particularly in the young. This has driven research into finding ways of introducing provitamin A carotenoids into staple crops, and this has recently been achieved in rice and canola through genetic manipulation. The fact that carotenoids show protective activity in vitro and in vivo against a variety of degenerative disease end points has also give impetus to studying whether increasing intakes of the commonly consumed carotenoids would have public health benefits in the developed world. Human intervention studies have been undertaken using supplements of β‐carotene rather than utilising foods with enhanced carotenoid levels, but no potential benefit has been shown. Indeed, there is evidence of an increased health risk from the consumption of β‐carotene supplements. These observations suggest that the threshold between the beneficial and adverse effects of some carotenoids is low and provides a strong stimulus to further understanding the functional effects of specific carotenoids. Specific needs for future research are identified in the review. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry

Assay of β-Carotene in Dietary Supplements and Fruit Juices by TLC-Densitometry

“…Different extraction procedures were used to isolate carotenoids, including simple solvent extraction, lipid phase distribution (Minguez-Mosquera and Garrido-Fernandez 1989), solid-phase extraction (Gutierrez et al 1989), accelerated solvent extraction (Breithaupt 2004), and supercritical-fluid extraction (Gamlieli-Bonshtein et al 2002). Extraction of carotenoids should be performed quickly, avoiding exposure to light, oxygen, high temperature, and prooxidant metals in order to minimize auto-oxidation and isomerization (Van den Berg et al 2000).…”

Transference of lutein during cheese making, color stability, and sensory acceptance of prato cheese

“…Carotenoids are natural pigments known for their coloring properties and biological functions ( VAN DEN BERG et al, 2000). They are synthesized by plants, and, therefore, their presence in animals is attributed to the ingestion of food (OLSON; KRINSKY, 1995;YOUNG;LOWE, 2001).…”

Quality assessment of baby food made of different pre-processed organic raw materials under industrial processing conditions

“…Koka and Karadeniz (2008) registered retention of alpha-and beta-carotene content in cold stored carrots, but a decrease by 38 % of the lutein content. Finally, Van den Berg et al (2000) observed a significant reduction (up to 60 %) in carotene concentration during frozen storage. Mild heat treatments, such as steam blanching, can cause an increase of alpha-and beta-carotene content, probably due to an enhanced chemical extractability because of cell wall disruption.…”