Relationship between the colour and the chemical structure of carotenoid pigments

Meléndez-Martínez, Antonio J.; Britton, George; Vicario, Isabel M.; Heredia, Francisco J.

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.03.015

Cited by 217 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The mechanisms of carotenoid metabolism have been well studied (43,44). Factors identified as influencing carotenoid degradation in foods are oxygen, temperature, light, pH, ionic strength, moisture, and food matrix (33)(34)(35). In biofortified sorghum, oxygen-induced degradation is the greatest factor in all-trans β-carotene degradation during ambient seed storage (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elevated vitamin E content improves all- trans β-carotene accumulation and stability in biofortified sorghum

Che

Zhao

Glassman

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Micronutrient deficiencies are common in locales where people must rely upon sorghum as their staple diet. Sorghum grain is seriously deficient in provitamin A (β-carotene) and in the bioavailability of iron and zinc. Biofortification is a process to improve crops for one or more micronutrient deficiencies. We have developed sorghum with increased β-carotene accumulation that will alleviate vitamin A deficiency among people who rely on sorghum as their dietary staple. However, subsequent β-carotene instability during storage negatively affects the full utilization of this essential micronutrient. We determined that oxidation is the main factor causing β-carotene degradation under ambient conditions. We further demonstrated that coexpression of homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase (HGGT), stacked with carotenoid biosynthesis genes, can mitigate β-carotene oxidative degradation, resulting in increased β-carotene accumulation and stability. A kinetic study of β-carotene degradation showed that the half-life of β-carotene is extended from less than 4 wk to 10 wk on average with HGGT coexpression.β-carotene accumulation | β-carotene stability | vitamin E | HGGT | biofortified sorghum T he importance of vitamin A for human health has been widely addressed (1-6). A 2009 Global Report (7) summarized vitamin A as being "vital for survival and sight; to boost the immune system, vitamin A is a critical micronutrient for survival and physical health of children exposed to disease." In Africa, malnutrition is a serious challenge, but micronutrient deficiency also plays a dominant role in the overall food security of that continent. Based on this global report, the five countries having the highest proportions of preschool age children with vitamin A deficiency were all located in Africa: 95.6% in Sao Tome and Principe, 84.4% in Kenya, 75.8% in Ghana, 74.8% in Sierra Leone, and 68.8% in Mozambique. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is one of the most important staple foods for an estimated 500 million people, primarily those living in arid and semiarid areas. In Africa, it is the second most important cereal; about 300 million people rely on it as their daily staple food. Although sorghum is gluten-free and could be an attractive replacement for wheat-allergy sufferers, it is considered a nutrient-poor crop (8, 9) with very low amounts of β-carotene (10). The improvement of micronutrients in food crops has attracted considerable attention, and significant advances have been made in a range of major crops (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Nutritional improvement in sorghum was undertaken a decade ago (23, 24); however, progress has lagged behind the progress in other crops. One reason was the recalcitrance of sorghum to genetic modification via transformation. Recent improvements in sorghum transformation have largely overcome this barrier and offer an alternative approach to genetic improvements in sorghum (25).One of our objectives is to develop sorghum lines with enhanced and stabilized provitamin A (β-car...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is very susceptible to oxidation (32). Many factors affect β-carotene stability, including temperature (thermal degradation), light intensity (photo-oxidative degradation), oxygen level (oxidative degradation), and enzymes (enzymatic oxidative degradation) (33)(34)(35).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated vitamin E content improves all- trans β-carotene accumulation and stability in biofortified sorghum

Che

Zhao

Glassman

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Although the color of carotenoids is dependent on factors others than just their chemical structure (like concentration and interaction with other molecules, among others), it is considered that at least 7 c.d.b. are needed for a carotenoid to exhibit color [12], hence PT and PTF are considered colorless carotenoids. On the other hand PTF is known to fluorescence at around 510 nm when it is excited with near-UV light [13].…”

Section: Light Absorbing Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently it is generally accepted that the desaturation of phytoene (7,8,11,12,7 0 ,8 0 ,11 0 ,12 0 -octahydro-w,w-carotene) to form successively phytofluene (7,8,11,12,7 0 ,8 0 -hexahydro-w,w-carotene), Fig. 2.…”

Section: Oxygenic Photosynthetic Organismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Phytoene (7,8,11,12,7 0 ,8 0 ,11 0 ,12 0 -octahydro-w, w-carotene, PT 1 ) and phytofluene (7,8,11,12,7 0 ,8 0 -hexahydro-w, w-carotene, PTF) were already studied in the 1940s, with a wealth of dedicated investigations in the 1950s [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. They can be considered as rarities within the ''Carotenoid Kingdom'' as they are colorless.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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