Flores e microalgas como fontes alternativas de carotenoides

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2002

RESUMO

Carotenoids are natural pigments, which also have important biological functions such as provitamin A andlor antioxidant activities. With such functions, these pigments have applications in different areas such as foods, medicine, cosmetics and aquaculture. They are widely distributed in nature and can be encountered in flowers, seeds, roots, bacteria, fungi, algae and animaIs. At the moment more than 600 nat ural carotenoids have been identified, but only five or six have been produced commercially in synthetic form and at high prices. Consequently,there is an increasing search for natural sources that can be utilized commercially for the production of these importantcompounds. In the present work were investigated, among the available natural sources, the flowers of Cosmos sulphureus, Theleehitoniatri/obata and Pyrostegia venusta and the marine microalgae, Tetraselmisgraeilis, Hillea sp and Syneehoeoeeussubsalsus. The carotenoid profile obtained by HPLC for the yellow and orange flowers of C. sulphureus was identical, differing slightly from that of T tri/obata, with the predominance of lutein diesters. The mean lutein content of the yellow and orange flowers of C. sulphureus was also similar, about 670 Ilg/g fresh weight, but significantlylower than that of T tri/obata (820 Ilg/g). The lutein levels of these flowers are comparable or higher than those found in Tagetes ereeta, the main natural source of lutein, which indicates the possible utilization of these flowers as commercialsources of this carotenoid...Note: The complete abstract is available with the full electronic digital thesis or dissertations

ASSUNTO(S)

carotenoides analise espectral flores microalga analise cromatografica

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