Carotene

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
β-carotene
Carotene is responsible for the orange colour of carrots and the colours of many other fruits and vegetables and even some animals.
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. The pink colour of wild flamingos is due to astaxanthin
(a carotenoid) they absorb from their diet of brine shrimp. If fed a carotene-free diet they become white.

The term carotene (also carotin, from the Latin carota, "carrot"

unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but in general cannot be made by animals (with the exception of some aphids and spider mites which acquired the synthesizing genes from fungi).[3] Carotenes are photosynthetic pigments important for photosynthesis
. Carotenes contain no oxygen atoms. They absorb ultraviolet, violet, and blue light and scatter orange or red light, and (in low concentrations) yellow light.

Carotenes are responsible for the orange colour of the

carotenoids to colourless retinoids, such as humans and chickens, have yellow-coloured body fat
, as a result of the carotenoid retention from the vegetable portion of their diet.

Carotenes contribute to photosynthesis by transmitting the light energy they absorb to chlorophyll. They also protect plant tissues by helping to absorb the energy from singlet oxygen, an excited form of the oxygen molecule O2 which is formed during photosynthesis.

cryptoxanthin. All other carotenoids, including lycopene
, have no beta-ring and thus no vitamin A activity (although they may have antioxidant activity and thus biological activity in other ways).

Animal species differ greatly in their ability to convert retinyl (beta-ionone) containing carotenoids to retinals. Carnivores in general are poor converters of dietary ionone-containing carotenoids. Pure carnivores such as ferrets lack β-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase and cannot convert any carotenoids to retinals at all (resulting in carotenes not being a form of vitamin A for this species); while cats can convert a trace of β-carotene to retinol, although the amount is totally insufficient for meeting their daily retinol needs.[4]

Molecular structure

Carotenes are polyunsaturated

conjugated double bonds. Carotenes are tetraterpenes, meaning that they are derived from eight 5-carbon isoprene
units (or four 10-carbon terpene units).

Carotenes are found in plants in two primary forms designated by characters from the

zeta-carotene (γ, δ, ε, and ζ-carotene) also exist. Since they are hydrocarbons, and therefore contain no oxygen, carotenes are fat-soluble and insoluble in water (in contrast with other carotenoids, the xanthophylls
, which contain oxygen and thus are less chemically hydrophobic).

History

The discovery of carotene from carrot juice is credited to

luteal' pigments in egg yolk from that of the carotenes in cow corpus luteum.[5]

Dietary sources

The following foods contain carotenes in notable amounts:[6]

Absorption from these foods is enhanced if eaten with fats, as carotenes are fat soluble, and if the food is cooked for a few minutes until the plant cell wall splits and the color is released into any liquid.[6] 12 μg of dietary β-carotene supplies the equivalent of 1 μg of retinol, and 24 µg of α-carotene or β-cryptoxanthin provides the equivalent of 1 µg of retinol.[6][8]

Forms of carotene

α-carotene
β-carotene
γ-carotene
δ-carotene

The two primary isomers of carotene, α-carotene and β-carotene, differ in the position of a double bond (and thus a hydrogen) in the cyclic group at one end (the right end in the diagram at right).

β-Carotene is the more common form and can be found in yellow, orange, and green leafy fruits and vegetables. As a rule of thumb
, the greater the intensity of the orange colour of the fruit or vegetable, the more β-carotene it contains.

Carotene protects plant cells against the destructive effects of ultraviolet light so β-carotene is an antioxidant.

β-Carotene and physiology

β-Carotene and cancer

An article on the

The Cancer Research Campaign has called for warning labels on β-carotene supplements to caution smokers that such supplements may increase the risk of lung cancer.[11]

The New England Journal of Medicine published an article[12] in 1994 about a trial which examined the relationship between daily supplementation of β-carotene and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) and the incidence of lung cancer. The study was done using supplements and researchers were aware of the epidemiological correlation between carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables and lower lung cancer rates. The research concluded that no reduction in lung cancer was found in the participants using these supplements, and furthermore, these supplements may, in fact, have harmful effects.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute and The New England Journal of Medicine published articles in 1996[13][14] about a trial with a goal to determine if vitamin A (in the form of retinyl palmitate) and β-carotene (at about 30 mg/day, which is 10 times the Reference Daily Intake) supplements had any beneficial effects to prevent cancer. The results indicated an increased risk of lung and prostate cancers for the participants who consumed the β-carotene supplement and who had lung irritation from smoking or asbestos exposure, causing the trial to be stopped early.[14]

A review of all randomized controlled trials in the scientific literature by the

JAMA in 2007 found that synthetic β-carotene increased mortality by 1–8% (Relative Risk 1.05, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.08).[15] However, this meta-analysis included two large studies of smokers, so it is not clear that the results apply to the general population.[16]
The review only studied the influence of synthetic antioxidants and the results should not be translated to potential effects of fruits and vegetables.

β-Carotene and photosensitivity

Oral β-carotene is prescribed to people suffering from erythropoietic protoporphyria. It provides them some relief from photosensitivity.[17]

Carotenemia

Carotenemia or hypercarotenemia is excess carotene, but unlike excess vitamin A, carotene is non-toxic. Although hypercarotenemia is not particularly dangerous, it can lead to an oranging of the skin (carotenodermia), but not the

medical sign
of more dangerous conditions.

Production

Algae farm ponds in Whyalla, South Australia, used to produce β-carotene

Carotenes are produced in a general manner for other terpenoids and terpenes, i.e. by coupling, cyclization, and oxygenation reactions of isoprene derivatives. Lycopene is the key precursor to carotenoids. It is formed by coupling of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate and geranyllinally pyrophosphate.[18]

Most of the world's synthetic supply of carotene comes from a manufacturing complex located in

industrial biotechnology company Biotrend is producing natural all-trans-β-carotene from a non-genetically modified bacteria of the genus Sphingomonas
isolated from soil.

Carotenes are also found in palm oil, corn, and in the milk of dairy cows,[20] causing cow's milk to be light yellow, depending on the feed of the cattle, and the amount of fat in the milk (high-fat milks, such as those produced by Guernsey cows, tend to be yellower because their fat content causes them to contain more carotene).

Carotenes are also found in some species of termites, where they apparently have been picked up from the diet of the insects.[21]

Synthesis

There are currently two commonly used methods of total synthesis of β-carotene. The first was developed by BASF and is based on the Wittig reaction with Wittig himself as patent holder:[22][23]

Carotene synthesis by Wittig

The second is a

Hoffman-La Roche
from the original synthesis of Inhoffen et al. They are both symmetrical; the BASF synthesis is C20 + C20, and the Hoffman-La Roche synthesis is C19 + C2 + C19.

Nomenclature

Carotenes are carotenoids containing no oxygen. Carotenoids containing some oxygen are known as xanthophylls.

The two ends of the β-carotene molecule are structurally identical, and are called β-rings. Specifically, the group of nine carbon atoms at each end form a β-ring.

The α-carotene molecule has a β-ring at one end; the other end is called an ε-ring. There is no such thing as an "α-ring".

These and similar names for the ends of the carotenoid molecules form the basis of a systematic naming scheme, according to which:

  • α-carotene is β,ε-carotene;
  • β-carotene is β,β-carotene;
  • γ-carotene (with one β ring and one uncyclized end that is labelled
    psi
    ) is β,ψ-carotene;
  • δ-carotene (with one ε ring and one uncyclized end) is ε,ψ-carotene;
  • ε-carotene is ε,ε-carotene
  • lycopene is ψ,ψ-carotene

ζ-Carotene is the biosynthetic precursor of neurosporene, which is the precursor of lycopene, which, in turn, is the precursor of the carotenes α through ε.

Food additive

Carotene is used to colour products such as juice, cakes, desserts, butter and margarine.[3] It is approved for use as a food additive in the EU (listed as additive E160a)[25] Australia and New Zealand (listed as 160a)[26] and the US.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mosby’s Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Mosby-Year Book 1994, p. 273
  2. ^ "carotene". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  3. ^ .
  4. .
  5. ^ Theodore L. Sourkes, "The Discovery and Early History of Carotene," http://acshist.scs.illinois.edu/bulletin_open_access/v34-1/v34-1%20p32-38.pdf
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Carotenoids". Micronutrient Information Center, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. PMID 18486400
    .
  8. ^ a b c d "Vitamin A: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals". Office of Dietary Supplements, US National Institutes of Health. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  9. PMID 23931131
    .
  10. .
  11. ^ "British Cancer Organization Calls for Warning Labels on Beta-Carotene". 2000-07-31. Archived from the original on 2006-12-04. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  12. PMID 8127329
    .
  13. .
  14. ^ .
  15. .
  16. ^ See the letter to
    JAMA by Philip Taylor and Sanford Dawsey and the reply
    by the authors of the original paper.
  17. .
  18. .
  19. .
  20. .
  21. .
  22. ^ Wittig G.; Pommer H.: DBP 954247, 1956
  23. ^ Wittig G.; Pommer H. (1959). Chem. Abstr. 53: 2279
  24. ^ US patent 2609396, Inhoffen Hans Herloff & Pommer Horst, "Compounds with the carbon skeleton of beta-carotene and process for the manufacture thereof", published 1952-09-02 
  25. ^ UK Food Standards Agency: "Current EU approved additives and their E Numbers". Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  26. ^ Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code"Standard 1.2.4 – Labelling of ingredients". 8 September 2011. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  27. ^ US FDA: "Food Additive Status List". Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 2014-12-22.

External links