The results of the present study have shown that in Micrococcus luteus, light was not an absolute requirement for growth and carotenoid biosynthesis, while molecular oxygen was found to be an absolute requirement for both growth and carotenoid biosynthesis. On the other hand, at stationary phase of growth, the yield of the cells grown in the presence of (0 -24 mM ) nicotine was not significantl...

Carotenoids are considered a limited resource for animals because they are not synthesised by the body. Birds use carotenoids, mainly xanthophylls, for physiological functions, such as anti-oxidant activity, and for colour expression; hence, they need to shunt carotenoids between competitive demands. Recent studies suggest that the antioxidant role of xanthophylls might not be as important as p...

Flavonoids and carotenoids with rich structural diversity are ubiquitously present in the plant kingdom. Flavonoids, and especially their glycosides, are more hydrophilic than most carotenoids. The interaction of flavonoids with carotenoids occurs accordingly at water/lipid interfaces and has been found important for the functions of flavonoids as antioxidants in the water phase and especially ...

Dietary carotenoids, especially xanthophylls, have attracted significant attention because of their characteristic biological activities, including anti-allergic, anti-cancer, and anti-obese actions. Although no less than forty carotenoids are ingested under usual dietary habits, only six carotenoids and their metabolites have been found in human tissues, suggesting selectivity in the intestina...

Emerging evidence indicates that carotenoids may have particular roles in infant nutrition and development, yet data on the profile and bioavailability of carotenoids from human milk remain sparse. Milk was longitudinally collected at 2, 4, 13, and 26 weeks postpartum from twenty mothers each in China, Mexico, and the USA in the Global Exploration of Human Milk Study (n = 60 donors, n = 240 sam...

In animals yellow-orange-red sexual traits pigmented by carotenoids have been suggested to act as signals of current health. Because carotenoids have important physiological functions, individuals might trade-off allocating these pigments to self-maintenance versus coloration. Carotenoids may act as scavengers of free radicals that are released during an immune response. Here, we experimentally...

(1) Background: Carotenoids may be inversely associated with inflammatory markers (i.e., TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β). However, data are scarce on retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) in humans. We examined the associations among serum carotenoids, RBP4 and several inflammatory markers in a Chinese population. (2) Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study included 3031 participants (68% males) age...

Carotenoids distribution and function in seeds have been very scarcely studied, notwithstanding their pivotal roles in plants that include photosynthesis and phytohormone synthesis, pigmentation, membrane stabilization and antioxidant activity. Their relationship with tocochromanols, whose critical role in maintaining seed viability has already been evidenced, and with chlorophylls, whose reten...

There is growing need for accurate information regarding the bioavailability of carotenoids, both with respect to carotenoids per se and to the vitamin A value of provitamin A carotenoids in foods or supplement preparations. Little quantitative information is currently available, owing primarily to the lack of adequate methods to assess carotenoid bioavailability. Methods applied to xenobiotic ...