carotenoid
Sign in to savethumb|class=skin-invert-image|Chemical structure of β-carotene, a common natural pigment|420px
Research
119,600 papersvia PubMed
Article
20 sectionsContents
- Structure and function
- Photophysics
- Light harvesting and photoprotection
- Structure-property relationships
- Regulation
- Morphology
- Foods
- Plant colors
- Bird colors and sexual selection
- Aroma chemicals
- Disease
- Biosynthesis
- MEP pathway
- Carotenoid biosynthetic pathway
- Key enzymes
- Regulation
- Naturally occurring carotenoids
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|class=skin-invert-image|Chemical structure of β-carotene, a common natural pigment|420px
Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, canaries, flamingos, salmon, lobster, shrimp, and daffodils. Over 1,100 identified carotenoids can be further categorized into two classes xanthophylls (which contain oxygen) and carotenes (which are purely hydrocarbons and contain no oxygen).