Did you know that carotenoids are a family of more than 600 pigments found
in nature?
Carotenoids are the pigments that give color to egg yolks, tomatoes, fungi,
all green leaves, fruits, and flowers. They also occur in crustaceans, certain
fish species, feathers and insects. They cannot be made in the body and must
be obtained via the diet. Carotenoids are natural colouring and stabilizing
agents. Foods that contain carotenoids retain their appearance for long
periods and withstand the action of direct sunlight
Carotenoids are also known for their health benefits
Some of them, such as the provitamin A carotenoids, are a safe source of
vitamin A since they convert to vitamin A only when body stores are low. They
naturally limit further increases in storage levels. A very promising aspect
of carotenoids is their ability in the human body to prevent damage caused by
free radicals. There is much epidemiological evidence that carotenoids may
help in the prevention of certain degenerative diseases.
DSM was the first to synthetise commercial quantities of carotenoids
Starting with the production of ß-carotene in 1954, today DSM Nutritional
Products produces carotenoids for use in cosmetics, animal and human nutrition
and health. Most of these are nature-identical, which means that their
chemical structures and properties cannot be distinguished from the
carotenoids found in plants or animals.
