516
P. F. Surai and I. I. Kochish
Keywords Antioxidants · Carotenoids · Canthaxanthin · Chicken egg · Lutein ·
Poultry
Abbreviations
AO
Antioxidant
Apo-EE β-apo-8
-caroitenoic acid ethyl ester
AX
Astaxanthin
CoQ
Coenzyme Q
CX
Canthaxanthin
NF-κB Nuclear factor-kappa B
HO
Heme oxygenase
HDL
High density lipoproteins
LPL
Lipoprotein lipase
MDA
Malondialdehyde
Nrf2
Nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2
SOD
Superoxide Dismutase
TAC
Total antioxidant capacity
YSM
Yolk Sac Membrane
20.1 Introduction
Carotenoids are the most numerous and widespread group of pigments in nature and
have had a long and interesting history. Studies on these pigments were started at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, when the crystalline yellow pigment carotene
was first isolated in 1831 by Wackenroder from carrots, and the yellow pigments
of autumn leaves were named as xanthophylls by Berzelius in 1837 (Tee 1992;
Karnaukhov 1990). A hundred years later, the number of characterised naturally
occurring carotenoids rose from 15 in 1933 to about 80 in 1948 and increased sharply
to about 300 (Ong and Tee 1992) and over 750 pigments (Maoka 2009) over the next
60 years. Today, the carotenoid family is known to include 1117 natural carotenoids
from 683 source organisms (Yabuzaki 2017).
In nature, carotenoids are responsible for a variety of bright colours in senescent
leaves, flowers (narcissus, marigold), fruits (pineapple, citrus fruits, paprika), vegetables (carrots, tomatoes), insects (ladybird), bird plumage (flamingo, cock of rock, ibis,
canary) and marine animals (crustaceans, salmon) (Pfander 1992). These pigments
provide different colours from light yellow to dark red and, when complexed with
proteins, can produce green and blue colourations (Ong and Tee 1992). Carotenoids
are exclusively responsible for egg yolk colour and are thought to play specific roles
in avian embryonic development (Surai 2002, 2012a, b; Surai et al. 2001a, b).
P. F. Surai and I. I. Kochish
Keywords Antioxidants · Carotenoids · Canthaxanthin · Chicken egg · Lutein ·
Poultry
Abbreviations
AO
Antioxidant
Apo-EE β-apo-8
-caroitenoic acid ethyl ester
AX
Astaxanthin
CoQ
Coenzyme Q
CX
Canthaxanthin
NF-κB Nuclear factor-kappa B
HO
Heme oxygenase
HDL
High density lipoproteins
LPL
Lipoprotein lipase
MDA
Malondialdehyde
Nrf2
Nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2
SOD
Superoxide Dismutase
TAC
Total antioxidant capacity
YSM
Yolk Sac Membrane
20.1 Introduction
Carotenoids are the most numerous and widespread group of pigments in nature and
have had a long and interesting history. Studies on these pigments were started at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, when the crystalline yellow pigment carotene
was first isolated in 1831 by Wackenroder from carrots, and the yellow pigments
of autumn leaves were named as xanthophylls by Berzelius in 1837 (Tee 1992;
Karnaukhov 1990). A hundred years later, the number of characterised naturally
occurring carotenoids rose from 15 in 1933 to about 80 in 1948 and increased sharply
to about 300 (Ong and Tee 1992) and over 750 pigments (Maoka 2009) over the next
60 years. Today, the carotenoid family is known to include 1117 natural carotenoids
from 683 source organisms (Yabuzaki 2017).
In nature, carotenoids are responsible for a variety of bright colours in senescent
leaves, flowers (narcissus, marigold), fruits (pineapple, citrus fruits, paprika), vegetables (carrots, tomatoes), insects (ladybird), bird plumage (flamingo, cock of rock, ibis,
canary) and marine animals (crustaceans, salmon) (Pfander 1992). These pigments
provide different colours from light yellow to dark red and, when complexed with
proteins, can produce green and blue colourations (Ong and Tee 1992). Carotenoids
are exclusively responsible for egg yolk colour and are thought to play specific roles
in avian embryonic development (Surai 2002, 2012a, b; Surai et al. 2001a, b).