Carotenoids and Their Fatty Acid Esters in the Petals of Adonis aestivalis

Carotenoids and their fatty acid esters were investigated in the petals of Adonis aestivalis by UV-VIS, H-1-NMR, FAB-MS, and CD spectrometry. (3S,3'S)-astaxanthin (diester: 72.2%, monoester: 13.8%, free: 1.4%) and (3S)-adonirubin (monoester: 13.8%, free: 0.3%) were identified as the major components. The fatty acids esterified with astaxanthin and adonirubin were assigned as C18:0, C18:1, C16:0, C16:1, C14:0, C12:0, and C10:0 from the FAB-MS spectral data.