The carotenoid content of lichens of the <i>Cladonia</i> genus from Mecklenburg

Abstract

Abstract The presence of carotenoids in 10 species of the lichens of the Cladonia genus from Mecklenburg was studied. The investigations revealed the presence of the following carotenoids: bisdehydrolycopene, β‐carotene, β‐cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, 3‐epilutein, lycopene‐5,6‐epoxide, β‐carotene epoxide, antheraxanthin, lutein epoxide, mutatoxanthin, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, α‐doradexanthin, β‐doradexanthin, astaxanthin and rhodoxanthin. The total carotenoid content of the material ranged from 19.1 to 36.0 μg g −1 dry weight.