Astaxanthine

The astaxanthine C₄₀H₅₂O₄ (dihydroxy-3,3´ dioxo-4,4´ β-carotene) is a Pigment of the family of carotenoids, being appeared as a solid purplished of molecular mass 596.84 G mol -1. This compound is soluble in greases and oils, it is extracted from the alga Haematococcus pluvialis . The astaxanthine belongs to the family of the Terpène S, and belonged to the compounds phytochimic. It is present at the shellfish (Crabe S, Crevette S, lobster, crayfish S, Langouste S), the Saumon, the red sea bream and in the feathers of certain birds.

This coloring does not appear in the live animal because the molecule is surrounded by a Protéine giving him a coloring noirâtre. By scalding lobsters and shrimps, the protein chains are held, releasing the molecule of astaxanthine: the shellfish become pink then. The farmed salmons can be differentiated wild salmons by examination of the structure of the astaxanthine.

It is professor Basil Weedon which, the first, discovered the structure of the astaxanthine. Contrary to much of carotenoids, the astaxanthine is not converted in the human body into Vitamine has (rétinol). An excess of vitamin is dangerous for the man, which is not the case for the astaxanthine. This powerful oxidant can be used as food complement at the man, the animal and the breeding of trouts. The commercial production of astaxanthine is of natural or synthetic origin.

It can be regarded as the ultimate term of a series of hydroxylations and oxidations starting from the β- Carotène; the colorings observed at the Crustacé S are due to chromoprotéines of this pigment, like the crustacyanines of the Homard S. the red pigment of the Sea anemone Actinia equina , the actinio-érythrine (2, 2´ (a) norastaxanthine), is a metabolite private individual of the astaxanthine; the two cycles β- Ionone underwent a contraction with loss of a carbon atom. A molecule of astaxanthine which lost its 2 - OH is called canthaxanthine. It is responsible for the color of the Flamant S of America.

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