Brief Introduction

Synonyms--- /

Beta-carotene,Betacarotene, β-Carotene, all-trans-β-Carotene

Other Name:all-trans- (8CI), BetaVit, C.I. 40800, C.I. Food Orange 5,  Carotaben, Carotene Base 80S, CoroCare, Cyclohexene, Food Orange 5, KPMK, Lucaratin, Lucarotin, Lucarotin 10CWD/O, Lucarotin 30SUN, Lurotin, NSC 62794, Provatene, Provatenol, Rovimix β-carotene, Serlabo, Solatene

Chemical Name:(all-E)-1,1'-(3,7,12,16-Tetramethyl-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17-octadecanonaene- 1,18-diyl)bis[2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexene]; 1,1'-(3,7,12,16-tetramethyl-1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17- octadecanonaene-1,18-diyl)bis[2,6,6-trimethyl-, (all-E)-
Molecular Formula: C40H56

Mol. Wt.: 536.87

Molecular Structure:

The carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable, usually orange, purple, red, white, or yellow in colour, with a crisp texture when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot. It is a domesticated form of the wild carrot Daucus carota, native to Europe and southwestern Asia. It has been bred for its greatly enlarged and more palatable, less woody-textured edible taproot, but is still the same species.

It is a biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, while building up the stout taproot, which stores large amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. The flowering stem grows to about 1 metre (3 ft) tall, with an umbel of white flowers that produce a fruit called a mericarp by botanists, which is a type of schizocarp.

Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. The simplest way is raw as carrots are perfectly digestible without requiring cooking. Alternatively they may be chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, as well as baby and pet foods. A well known dish is carrots julienne. Grated carrots are used in carrot cakes, as well as carrot puddings. The greens are edible as a leaf vegetable, but are rarely eaten by humans, as they are mildly toxic. Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.Baby carrots or mini-carrots (carrots that have been peeled and cut into uniform cylinders) have been a popular ready-to-eat snack food available in many supermarkets.

Carrot juice is also widely marketed, especially as a health drink, either stand-alone or blended with fruits and other vegetables.

The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines. Massive overconsumption of carrots can cause carotenosis, a benign condition in which the skin turns orange. Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into the diet. An urban legend says eating large amounts of carrots will allow one to see in the dark.

Ethnomedically, the roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis or constipation.

β-Caroteneis an organic compound - a terpenoid, a red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits, peculiarly in carrot. As a carotene with beta-rings at both ends, it is the most common form of carotene. It is a precursor (inactive form) of vitamin A.

The structure was deduced by Karrer et al. In nature, β-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A via the action of beta-carotene 15, 15’-monooxygenase. β-Carotene is also the substance in carrots that colours them orange. β-Carotene is biosynthesized from geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. Isolation of beta-carotene from fruits abundant in carotenoids is commonly done using column chromatography. The separation of beta-carotene from the mixture of carotenoids is based on the polarity of a compound. Beta-carotene is a non-polar compound, so it is separated with a non-polar solvent such as hexane. Being highly conjugated, it is deeply colored, and as a hydrocarbon lacking functional groups, it is very lipophilic.

Sources in the diet: β-Carotene contributes to the orange color of many different fruits and vegetables. Vietnamese gac (Momordica Cochinchinensis Spreng.) and crude palm oil are particularly rich sources, as are yellow and orange fruits, such as mangoes and papayas, orange root vegetables such as carrots and yams and in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, sweet potato leaves, and sweet gourd leaves. Vietnam gac and crude palm oil have by far the highest content of β-carotene of any known fruit or vegetable, 10 times higher than carrots for example. However, Gac is quite rare and unknown outside its native region of SE Asia, and crude palm oil is typically processed to remove the cartenoids before sale to improve the color and clarity.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists the following 10 foods to have the highest β-carotene content per serving.

The Carrot Juice Powder (β-Carotene) used as a food additive, is derived from the roots of the plant Daucus carota L..