Dr. Tatiele Casagrande do Nascimento is currently a young researcher at the Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. She has a doctorate in Food Science and Technology. Her research interests include foods and health outcomes with an emphasis on natural pigments.
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.
Part of the book: Progress in Carotenoid Research
Part of the book: Vitamin A