Carotenoids, Volume 4: Natural Functions

摘要

Carotenoids are polyisoprenoids that are invaluable for photoprotection during oxygenic photosynthesis and as anti-oxidants. They are responsible for the orange color of carrots and oranges, the red color of tomato, and many of the bright yellow and orange hues in flowers and serve as precursors of Vitamin A and the plant hormone abscisic acid. Because of these important functions in nature, there has been a great deal of investigation into their chemistry and biology. The Carotenoids series presents knowledge of various aspects of carotenoid science current at the time of publication, with each volume containing information about certain subject areas; e.g., Volumes 1A and 1B cover the isolation, analysis, and spectroscopy of carotenoids. This volume concerns the natural functions of carotenoids.