ABSTRACT
Carotenoids exhibit red, orange, and yellow colors, and are distributed in microorganisms, plants, and animals. They are tetraterpene pigments consisting of eight isoprenoid units having 40 carbon skeletons. Their structures commonly consist of polyene chains with nine conjugated double bonds near the center of the molecule and end groups at both sides of the polyene chain. Carotenoids are divided into two groups, that is, carotenes and xanthophylls (Britton et al., 2004). Carotenes are hydrocarbons consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Therefore, they are nonpolar compounds. Typical carotenes
CONTENTS
19.1 Antioxidative Activity of Carotenoids .................................................... 589 19.2 Reactive Nitrogen Species and Production of Peroxynitrite ............... 591 19.3 Scavenging Peroxynitrite .......................................................................... 592 19.4 Carotenoids and RNS ................................................................................ 594 19.5 Reaction of Carotenoids with Peroxynitrite ........................................... 595
19.5.1 Astaxanthin .................................................................................... 595 19.5.2 β-Carotene....................................................................................... 597 19.5.3 Lutein ............................................................................................... 597 19.5.4 Capsanthin and Fucoxanthin ....................................................... 598 19.5.5 Lycopene ......................................................................................... 599
19.6 Inhibition of Nitration of Tyrosine with Peroxynitrite by Carotenoids .................................................................................................600
