CAROTENE

Carotene

The term carotene is used for several related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but cannot be made by animals. Carotene is an orange photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis. Carotenes are all coloured to the human eye. They are responsible for the orange colour of the carrot, for which this class of chemicals is named, and for the colours of many other fruits and vegetables . Carotenes are also responsible for the orange colours in dry foliage. They also impart the yellow coloration to milk-fat and butter. Omnivorous animal species which are relatively poor converters of ...

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carotene

Noun

  1. A class of tetraterpene plant pigments; they vary in colour from yellow, through orange to red, this colour originating in a chain of alternating single and double bonds.
  2. Specifically, a number of isomers of tetraterpene hydrocarbons, C40H56, (especially beta-carotene), present in carrots etc, which are converted into vitamin A in the liver.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: carotene
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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