Table of Contents
What does beta-carotene do in plants?
Carotene protects plant cells against the destructive effects of ultraviolet light. β-Carotene is an antioxidant.
Is beta-carotene a chemical compound?
beta,beta-Carotene
β-Carotene/IUPAC ID
What is the chemical formula for a tomato?
C40H56
Having a chemical formula of C40H56, lycopene is a tetraterpene assembled from eight isoprene units that are solely composed of carbon and hydrogen.
Which molecule is β carotene?
Beta-carotene, with the molecular formula C40H56, belongs to the group of carotenoids consisting of isoprene units. The presence of long chains of conjugated double bonds donates beta-carotene with specific colors. It is the most abundant form of carotenoid and it is a precursor of the vitamin A.
What is carotene and xanthophyll?
The difference between the two groups is chemical: xanthophylls contain oxygen, while carotenes are hydrocarbons and do not contain oxygen. Also, the two absorb different wavelengths of light during a plant’s photosynthesis process, so xanthophylls are more yellow while carotenes are orange.
What are carotenoids in plants?
Carotenoids are red, orange, and yellow pigments produced by photoautotrophic organisms. In the green tissues of plants, carotenoids are essential for light capture, photoprotection, and stabilization of the photosynthetic apparatus (Frank and Cogdell, 1996; Hashimoto et al., 2016).
What is another name for beta-carotene?
Beta-carotene goes by many names. Some of those names include provitamin A, A-beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, carotene, carotenoids, dry alpha carotene, gamma carotene, eyebright, synthetic all-trans beta-carotene, and retinol.
Is beta-carotene named after carrots?
The name beta carotene comes from the Greek “beta” and Latin “carota” (carrot). It is the yellow/orange pigment that gives vegetables and fruits their rich colors. H. Wachenroder crystallized beta carotene from carrot roots in 1831, and came up with the name “carotene”.
What chemical compounds are in tomatoes?
Tomato is a good source of phenolic compounds (phenolic acids and flavonoids), carotenoids (lycopene, α, and β carotene), vitamins (ascorbic acid and vitamin A) and glycoalkaloids (tomatine).
Which chemical is used to tomato?
Lycopene is the pigment principally responsible for the characteristic deep-red color of ripe tomato fruits and tomato products.
Why beta-carotene is red Coloured compound?
The long chain of alternating double bonds (conjugated) is responsible for the orangecolor of beta-carotene. The conjugated chain in carotenoids means that they absorb in the visible region – green/blue part of the spectrum. β-Carotene is a strongly-colored red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits.
What’s the difference between carotenoids and xanthophyll?