THE CONTENT OF CAROTENOID PIGMENTS IN ROSA CANINA L. FRUIT

Abstract

Carotenoid pigments represent the integral vegetable carotenoids. They are the most widespread of all vegetable pigments. In the animal kingdom, these pigments come from the foods with a plant origin. Carotenoids are yellow, orange, red, purple, etc. colored pigments. In the plant body it is found in free state or in combination with holoprotoids and carbohydrates (carotenoprotoids, carotenoid glycosides). Carotenoid pigments are spread in all plant organs with or without chlorophyll (leaves, fruits, stems, bulbs, seeds, etc.). Carotenes are the precursors of retinols, that belong to the class of carotinids – the unsaturated pigments largly widespread in all the plants found in association with chlorophyll, in algae and microorganisms. The ingested carotenoids are absorbed through the intestinal wall in the presence of lipases and bile salts; the absorption is accompanied by oxidation reactions that form trans complete structures. Carotenoids are absorbed especially by the liver in the form of higher fatty acids. Vegetable pigments give the flavor, the taste and the color of the plant products. They can be part of the constitution of redox coenzymes, some of them are protectors of the enzymes and of the enzymatic activity, adjusting the redox potential of the biochemical environment, others are directly or indirectly involved in the process of photosynthesis.