Carotenoid Esters in Foods by Mercadante Adriana Z.;

Author:Mercadante, Adriana Z.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788017398
Publisher: Book Network Int'l Limited trading as NBN International (NBNi)
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 7.3 Structures of some xanthophyll esters occurring in flowers.

Adonis flower petals (Adonis spp.). Adonis is a genus of flowering plants of the Ranunculaceae family, native to Europe and Asia. The entire plant is poisonous to humans, but has medicinal uses. There are two well-known species, Adonis annua L. (syn. Adonis autumnalis L.), also known as autumn adonis or autumn pheasant's-eye, and Adonis aestivalis, known as the summer pheasant's-eye, both of which are ornamental plants with bright red petals in their flowers. Although they cannot be eaten, the extracts of Adonis flowers can be used as colourants for food and cosmetics. 138 The Adonis flower is an unusual case of a higher plant synthesising keto-carotenoids, such as astaxanthin, adonixanthin and adonirubin, in the petals. 139,140 Most of these xanthophylls (>95%) are present as monoesters and diesters with saturated (capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic) and unsaturated (oleic, palmitoleic, linoleic and linolenic) fatty acids. 138,140,141

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale L.). Dandelion is a herbaceous perennial plant of the Asteraceae family, producing vivid yellow flowers. Although dandelion is considered a weed, it is also used as a medicinal herb and in food preparation. The major carotenoid found in extracts prepared from petals of dandelion flowers was identified as the dipalmitate of lutein 5,6-epoxide (taraxanthin) and given the name ‘taraxien’. 16 A total carotenoid concentration of about 350 µg g−1 fw (expressed as free taraxanthin) was reported.

Marigold petals (Tagetes spp.). Plants of the genus Tagetes, commonly known as ‘marigolds’, are herbaceous plants—annual or perennial—of the Asteraceae family. The genus is native to the entire American continent, although some species are cultivated all around the world. The most commonly cultivated species is Tagetes erecta, and secondly Tagetes patula. The flowers have an intense orange–yellow colour that is due to a high carotenoid content, especially lutein. Marigold flower represents one of the richest natural sources of lutein, such that marigolds are cultivated for lutein extraction for use as a food colourant and in the manufacture of dietary supplements and animal feed. 142,146 Marigold flowers contain lutein as the major pigment (160–2400 µg g−1 fw), and 90–99% correspond to lutein esters (mainly diesters) with saturated fatty acids (lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic). 85,142,150 The most relevant esters are lutein laurate-myristate, lutein dimyristate, lutein myristate-palmitate, lutein dipalmitate, lutein myristate-stearate and lutein palmitate-stearate. Regioisomers for lutein monoesters and heterodiesters have been identified (e.g. lutein 3′-O-myristate, lutein 3-O-myristate, lutein 3′-O-palmitate, lutein 3-O-palmitate, lutein 3′-O-myristate-3-O-palmitate, lutein 3′-O-palmitate-3-O-myristate, lutein 3′-O-palmitate-3-O-stearate and lutein 3′-O-stearate-3-O-palmitate). 85,147,148

Pansy flower (Viola tricolor L.). Pansy is a small, creeping plant (Violaceae family), with delicate flowers of about 1.5 cm in diameter. It is very common as a wildflower in grasslands throughout Europe, but is also cultivated in gardens. The flowers can be purple, blue, yellow or white. Violaxanthin is the major carotenoid (72%) from yellow pansy flowers (its trivial name is derived from this fact), with lutein (7%), lutein 5,6-epoxide (13%) and neoxanthin (4%) also present. 151 The majority of these xanthophylls (94%) are found as diesters with common saturated fatty acids (lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic).

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