Nutritionally important carotenoids as consumer products

Carotenoids are nutritionally-beneficial organic tetraterpenoid pigments synthesized mainly by plants, bacteria and fungi. Although research has focused on the production of carotenoids in staple crops to improve nutritional welfare in developing countries, there is also an enormous market for carotenoids in the industrialized world, where they are produced both as commodities and luxury goods targeted at the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food/feed additive, cosmetics and fine chemicals sectors. Carotenoids are economically valuable because they have diverse bioactive and chemical properties. Some are essential nutrients (e.g. beta-carotene), others are antioxidants with specific roles (e.g. lutein and zeaxanthin) or general health-promoting roles that reduce the risk or progression of diseases associated with oxidative stress (e.g. lycopene), and still others are natural pigments (e.g. astaxanthin, which is added to fish feed to impart a desirable pink flesh color). Even carotenoid degradation products, such as damascones and damascenones, are used as fragrances in the perfumes industry. Here we discuss the importance of carotenoids in different market sectors, review current methods for commercial production and its regulation, summarize the most relevant patents and consider evidence supporting the health claims made by different industry sectors, focusing on case studies representing the most commercially valuable carotenoids on the market: beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin and astaxanthin.