Meléndez-Martínez Antonio J, Mapelli-Brahm Paula, Benítez-González Ana, Stinco Carla M
Food Colour & Quality Laboratory, Department of Nutrition & Food Science, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain.
Food Colour & Quality Laboratory, Department of Nutrition & Food Science, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Seville, Spain.
Arch Biochem Biophys. 2015 Apr 15;572:188-200. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2015.01.003. Epub 2015 Jan 20.
Carotenoids and their derivatives are versatile isoprenoids involved in many varied actions, hence their importance in the agri-food industry, nutrition, health and other fields. All carotenoids are derived from the colorless carotenes phytoene and phytofluene, which are oddities among carotenoids due to their distinct chemical structure. They occur together with lycopene in tomato and other lycopene-containing foods. Furthermore, they are also present in frequently consumed products like oranges and carrots, among others. The intake of phytoene plus phytofluene has been shown to be higher than that of lycopene and other carotenoids in Luxembourg. This is likely to be common in other countries. However, they are not included in food carotenoid databases, hence they have not been linked to health benefits in epidemiological studies. Interestingly, there are evidences in vitro, animal models and humans indicating that they may provide health benefits. In this sense, the study of these colorless carotenes in the context of food science, nutrition and health should be further encouraged. In this work, we review much of the existing knowledge concerning their chemical characteristics, physico-chemical properties, analysis, distribution in foods, bioavailability and likely biological activities.
类胡萝卜素及其衍生物是多功能的类异戊二烯，参与多种不同的作用，因此它们在农业食品工业、营养、健康及其他领域具有重要意义。所有类胡萝卜素均源自无色的类胡萝卜素八氢番茄红素和六氢番茄红素，由于其独特的化学结构，它们在类胡萝卜素中较为特殊。它们与番茄红素共同存在于番茄及其他富含番茄红素的食物中。此外，它们还存在于橙子和胡萝卜等常见消费产品中。在卢森堡，八氢番茄红素和六氢番茄红素的摄入量已被证明高于番茄红素和其他类胡萝卜素。这在其他国家可能也很常见。然而，它们未被纳入食品类胡萝卜素数据库，因此在流行病学研究中尚未将它们与健康益处联系起来。有趣的是，体外、动物模型和人体研究中有证据表明它们可能具有健康益处。从这个意义上讲，应进一步鼓励在食品科学、营养和健康领域对这些无色类胡萝卜素进行研究。在这项工作中，我们综述了许多关于它们的化学特性、物理化学性质、分析方法、在食物中的分布、生物利用度及可能的生物活性的现有知识。
