xanthophyll
Sign in to savethumb|The characteristic color of egg yolk results from the presence of a xanthophyll pigment typical in color of lutein or zeaxanthin of the xanthophylls, a division of the carotenoids group. Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek: (), meaning "yellow", and (), meaning "leaf"), due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Molecular structure
- Occurrence
- Example compounds
- Xanthophyll cycle
- Food sources
- References
- External links
thumb|The characteristic color of egg yolk results from the presence of a xanthophyll pigment typical in color of lutein or zeaxanthin of the xanthophylls, a division of the carotenoids group. Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek: (), meaning "yellow", and (), meaning "leaf"), due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments.
==Molecular structure== thumb|class=skin-invert-image|right|400px|The chemical structure of cryptoxanthin. Xanthophylls typically present oxygen as a [[hydroxyl group.]] right|thumb|130px|Thin layer chromatography is used to separate components of a plant extract, illustrating the experiment with plant pigments that gave chromatography its name. Plant xanthophylls form the bright yellow band next to the green.