carotene

carotene
/kar"euh teen'/, n.
any of three yellow or orange fat-soluble pigments having the formula C40H56, found in many plants, esp. carrots, and transformed to vitamin A in the liver; provitamin A.
Also, carotin.
[1860-65; < LL carot(a) CARROT + -ENE]

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Any of several organic compounds widely distributed in plants and animals.

They are pigments that give orange, yellow, or sometimes red colours to, for example, dandelions, apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes, butter, egg yolks, canary feathers, and lobster shells. Carotenes are converted in the body into vitamin A, but, unlike the vitamin, they are not toxic even at high doses. Carotene has an antioxidant effect and is therefore used in pharmaceuticals and as a food and feed additive, as well as to colour margarine and butter.

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      any of several organic compounds widely distributed as pigments in plants and animals and converted in the livers of many animals into vitamin A. These pigments are unsaturated hydrocarbons (having many double bonds), belonging to the isoprenoid series. Several isomeric forms (same formula but different molecular structures) are subsumed under the name.

      In plants, carotenes impart yellow, orange, or red colours to flowers (dandelion, marigold), fruits (pumpkin, apricot), and roots (carrot, sweet potato). In animals they are visible in fats (butter), egg yolks, feathers (canary), and shells (lobster).

      The most important provitamin (source of the vitamin) A is β-carotene, first isolated from carrots in 1910. Studies by several scientists culminated in its synthesis in 1950.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Carotene — Carotène La coloration des plumes du flamant rose est dû à l accumulation de carotène contenu dans son alimentation. Le carotène est un terpène découvert en 1881 par Wachenroder. C est un pigment de couleur orange, dimère de la vitamine A. Il est …   Wikipédia en Français

  • carotène — [ karɔtɛn ] n. m. • 1924; carottine n. f. 1846; de carotte ♦ Biochim. Pigment caroténoïde, de formule C40H56, précurseur de la vitamine A, trouvé dans des végétaux ou dans certains tissus animaux. Crème bronzante au carotène. ● carotène nom… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • carotene — hydrocarbon found in carrots and other plants, 1861, from Ger. carotin, coined 1831 by H.W.F. Wackenroder from L. carota carrot (see CARROT (Cf. carrot)) + German form of chemical suffix INE (Cf. ine) (2), denoting a hydrocarbon …   Etymology dictionary

  • carotene — ► NOUN ▪ an orange or red plant pigment found notably in carrots, important in the formation of vitamin A. DERIVATIVES carotenoid noun. ORIGIN from Latin carota carrot …   English terms dictionary

  • carotene — [kar′ətinkar′ə tēn΄] n. [< L carota, CARROT + ENE] any of several red or orange colored isomeric hydrocarbons, C40H56, found in butter and in carrots and certain other vegetables, and changed into vitamin A in the liver: sometimes called… …   English World dictionary

  • Carotene — The term carotene is used for several related substances having the formula C40H56. Carotene is an orange photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis.It is responsible for the orange colour of the carrot and many other fruits and… …   Wikipedia

  • Carotène — La coloration des plumes du flamant rose est dû à l accumulation de carotène contenu dans son alimentation. Le carotène est un terpène découvert en 1881 par Wachenroder. C est un pigment de couleur orange, dimère de la vitamine A. Il est… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • carotene — A class of carotenoids, yellow red pigments (lipochromes) widely distributed in plants and animals, notably in carrots, and closely related in structure to the xanthophylls and lycopenes and to the open chain squalene; of particular interest in… …   Medical dictionary

  • carotene — n. a yellow or orange plant pigment – one of the carotenoids – that occurs in four forms: alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), and delta (δ). The most important form is β carotene, which is an antioxidant and can be converted in the body to retinol… …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • carotene — noun Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary, from Late Latin carota carrot Date: 1861 any of several orange or red crystalline hydrocarbon pigments (as C40H56) that occur in the chromoplasts of plants and in the fatty tissues of plant… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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