The Biosynthesis of Astaxanthin-III

Abstract

1. The existence of ε-carotene, 3, 3'-dihydroxyr-ε-carotene, lutein, α-doradecin and astacin was confirmed in the carotenoids of sea breams and those exist in the form of esters except ε-carotene. 2. It was assumed that the bright red color of natural sea breams would come from the mixture of astaxanthin ester (red color) and α-doradexanthin ester (golden color). A portion of this work was supported by NIH grant AM 11665 from the National Institutes of Health.