Why can salmon, egg yolk, shrimp and so on be red?
Astaxanthin (also called astaxanthin in Hongkong and Taiwan Province) is a red pigment, which can give ornamental fish, salmon, shrimp and flamingos pink. Its chemical structure is similar to β-carotene. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid. It is also the highest level product of carotenoid synthesis. β-carotene, lutein, canthaxanthin and lycopene are only intermediate products of carotenoid synthesis, so astaxanthin has the strongest antioxidant capacity in nature.
Astaxanthin in nature is produced by algae, bacteria and phytoplankton. Some aquatic species, crustaceans including shrimps and crabs eat these algae and plankton, and then store this pigment in their shells, so their appearance is red. These shellfish are preyed by fish (salmon, trout, California fish) and birds (flamingos, ibis), and then the pigments are stored in skin and adipose tissue. This is why salmon and some other animals are red. The professor of Huazhong Agricultural University also confirmed that the red component of natural red heart duck eggs is also natural astaxanthin.
Natural astaxanthin is the strongest antioxidant found in nature so far, and its antioxidant activity far exceeds that of existing antioxidants.
Its ability to scavenge free radicals is: antioxidant comparison of astaxanthin
1000 times natural VE,
10 times of natural beta-carotene,
17 times of grape seed,
200 times that of lutein,
150 times of OPC,
60 times of Q 10,
Only algae, yeast and bacteria can produce astaxanthin, and higher animals cannot transform this chemical structure.
Another obvious feature of natural astaxanthin is that it is the only carotenoid that can cross the blood-brain barrier.
Astaxanthin can be prepared from carotene by chemical methods. This is the main source of astaxanthin in fish feed, and BASF, DSM, Xinhe Company in the world are capable of synthetic production. Other methods include adding shrimp waste or astaxanthin-producing yeast. [Edit this paragraph] The difference between natural and synthetic astaxanthin At present, there are two production methods of astaxanthin: artificial synthesis and biological acquisition. Synthetic astaxanthin is not only expensive, but also significantly different from natural astaxanthin in structure, function, application and safety.
Structurally, due to the optical rotation of hydroxyl groups at both ends (-OH), astaxanthin has three isomeric forms: 3s-3'S, 3R-3'S, 3R-3'r (also known as levorotatory, racemic and dextrorotatory), among which synthetic astaxanthin is a mixture of three astaxanthin (levorotatory 25%, dextrorotatory 25% and dextrorotatory 25%). It is completely different from astaxanthin (mainly in the form of trans -3s-3s) in aquaculture organisms such as salmon. Astaxanthin from yeast is 100% dextrorotatory (3r-3' r), which has partial antioxidant activity. The astaxanthin from the above two sources is mainly used for coloring non-edible animals and materials. Only astaxanthin from algae is 100% levorotatory (3s-3's) structure, which has the strongest biological activity. After years of research, Fuji, Yamaha and other large enterprises have used it as human health food, high-grade cosmetics and medicines.
Physiologically, the stability and oxidation activity of synthetic astaxanthin are also lower than that of natural astaxanthin. Because the hydroxyl groups (-OH) at both ends of astaxanthin molecule can be esterified, its stability is different. More than 90% of natural astaxanthin exists in the form of esterification, so it is relatively stable. Synthetic astaxanthin exists in a free state, so its stability is different. Synthetic astaxanthin must be embedded to be stable. Synthetic astaxanthin has only a left-handed structure of about 1/4, so its antioxidant capacity is only about 1/4.
From the application effect, the biological absorption effect of artificial astaxanthin is also worse than that of natural astaxanthin. When the feeding concentration is low, the concentration of artificial astaxanthin in rainbow trout blood is obviously lower than that of natural astaxanthin, and it can not be transformed into natural configuration in vivo, and its coloring ability and biological potency are far lower than that of natural astaxanthin with the same concentration.
In terms of biological safety, when astaxanthin is synthesized by chemical means, it will inevitably introduce impurity chemicals, such as unnatural by-products produced in the synthesis process, which will reduce its biological utilization safety. Therefore, it cannot be used in the human market.
With the rise of natural astaxanthin, the management of chemical synthesis of astaxanthin is becoming stricter all over the world. For example, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the chemical synthesis of astaxanthin from entering the health food market. At present, the production of astaxanthin generally tends to develop the biological source of natural astaxanthin and produce it on a large scale. At present, there are only seven companies from five countries (Japan's Fuji Chemical Group Yamaha Group, Biogenic Company, American Cyanotech Company, China Jingzhou Natural Astaxanthin Co., Ltd., India's Bioprex Company and Israel's Algatech Company), and most other countries and enterprises are in the research and development stage. [Edit this paragraph] Biological sources of natural astaxanthin At present, there are generally three biological sources of natural astaxanthin: wastes from aquatic product processing industry, Phaffiarhodozyma and microalgae (Haematococcus pluvialis). Among them, the content of astaxanthin in waste is low and the extraction cost is high, which is not suitable for large-scale production. The average content of astaxanthin in natural rhodozyma is only 0.40%. Compared with Haematococcus pluvialis.
A large number of studies show that the accumulation rate and total output of astaxanthin in Haematococcus pluvialis are higher than other green algae, and the proportion of astaxanthin and its esters (about 70% monoester, 25% diester and 5% monomer) in Haematococcus pluvialis is very similar to that in aquatic animals, which is the advantage that astaxanthin and Phaffia rhodozyma extracted by chemical synthesis method do not have. In addition, the structure of astaxanthin in Haematococcus pluvialis is 3S-3s type. The astaxanthin structure in Phaffia rhodozyma is 3 R-3R type.
At present, Haematococcus pluvialis is recognized by nature as the best organism to produce natural astaxanthin. Therefore, the extraction of astaxanthin from this microalgae undoubtedly has broad development prospects and has become a research hotspot of natural astaxanthin production in the world in recent years. [Edit this paragraph] Part of the patent number and patent name of astaxanthin application.
EP0786990 uses astaxanthin to reduce the damage of central nervous system and eyes.
EP 12 17996 uses astaxanthin to treat autoimmune diseases, chronic viral infections and intracellular bacterial infections.
US6475547 uses astaxanthin in milk rich in immunoglobulin.
WO0023064 Treatment of dyspepsia
US64 10602 improves sperm quality and fertility.
US63350 15 preventive drug for mastitis
US62623 16 oral drugs for preventing or treating helicobacter pylori infection
US62458 18 is used as a medicine for improving muscle tolerance or treating diseases such as muscle injury.
US605449 1 additive for promoting the growth and production of mammals.
US5744502 Additive for Improving Poultry Feeding and Reproductive Yield
US6433025 slows down or prevents ultraviolet sunburn.
US63442 14 relieves swelling and ulcer pain caused by fever.
US6258855 relieves and improves carpal tunnel syndrome.
EP 1283038 adjusting time difference
WO030 13556 is used as a pharmaceutical ingredient for treating eye diseases and maintaining eye function.
WO03003848 Astaxanthin diester improved the growth of cultured fish.
WO02094253 alleviates the deviation of eye self-control ability.
KR2000045 197 is a healthy nutritional product containing chitosan oligosaccharide and astaxanthin.
WO02058683 Carotenoid factor in hypertension
NZ29964 1 Use astaxanthin as a drug to relieve stress.
U.S. Pat. No.6277417 Method of Astaxanthin Inhibiting 5-α Reductase
US2003/778304 methods of inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors and chemokines
JP 1027672 1 Food or drink containing astaxanthin [Edit this paragraph] The application of astaxanthin in human beings has triggered a revolution in the antioxidant market. Some people even say that 2 1 century will be the century of antioxidants. Astaxanthin and its natural algae extracts have been widely used in developed countries in Europe, America, Japan and Southeast Asia, but few people know about it in China and few people know about it in China at present.
Because of its strong antioxidant activity, almost all the world's first-line cosmetics brands have added natural astaxanthin as a super antioxidant ingredient, including L 'Oreal Estee Lauder and Demei, especially Japanese brands Kose, Fangke, JUJU, Fuji and Manxiuleiden. Special astaxanthin series moisturizers, eye creams, masks, lipsticks and so on have been launched. Health products companies around the world have also introduced more than 200 kinds of astaxanthin soft capsules, hard capsules and oral liquids. Especially in Japan, the country with the longest life span, astaxanthin has become the hottest health food in Japan in recent three years. Southeast Asia, including Taiwan Province Province and Singapore, is deeply affected by it.
The amount of natural astaxanthin used as antioxidant should be at least 3mg per day (based on pure astaxanthin). It takes 8-10mg/day for anti-fatigue and10-12mg/day for reducing blood fat. Generally, there will be obvious reaction in 2-4 weeks, and the relief of jet lag syndrome caused by flight is 20mg/ day (3-5 days).
Natural astaxanthin needs to reduce or stop smoking during use, which will offset its antioxidant effect. If possible, we can observe the use effect by detecting the change of MDA content in urine. Because astaxanthin works by influencing and controlling the oxidative damage of biological cells (rather than a specific organ), some people's organ symptoms may not be obvious. But the improvement of cell life is significant.
At present, the price of pure L- natural astaxanthin is relatively expensive. The price of more than 98% pure astaxanthin from SIGMA Company is as high as $200 /50mg.5- 10% astaxanthin oil, which is relatively cheap for health care products and cosmetics. Humans generally don't need pure products to take.
With the understanding and application of astaxanthin, it is not out of reach for China people to reach the Japanese average life expectancy.