About Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin is a red pigment, can give the ornamental fish, salmon, shrimp, and flamingo pink color. Its chemical structure similar to ² - carotene. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid group.
Class carotene synthesis is the highest level of product,
² - carotene, lutein, canthaxanthin, lycopene is a carotenoid synthesis and so on, but the intermediate product, so in nature, astaxanthin has the strongest antioxidant activity. Astaxanthin is a natural world by the algae, bacteria and phytoplankton material generated. Some aquatic species, including shrimp, crustaceans, including crabs are eating the algae and plankton, and then stored in the shell of this pigment, so they look red. These shellfish has been fish (salmon, trout, Gary fish) and birds (flamingo, ibis) prey, and then stored in the pigment in skin and adipose tissue. This is the salmon and other animals show the red cause. Currently, the production of astaxanthin with synthetic and biological get two ways. Synthetic astaxanthin is not only expensive, but also with natural astaxanthin in structure, function, application and security, and so a significant difference. In the structure, since both ends of the hydroxyl (-OH) optical reasons, astaxanthin with 3S-3 'S, 3R-3' S, 3R-3'R (also known as L-, DL, D) three kinds of astaxanthin in the structure of the three state heterogeneous patterns, which synthetic astaxanthin for three kinds of structures of astaxanthin mixture (L-25% D 25%, 50% racemization) , little antioxidant activity, and salmon farming astaxanthin in vivo (in the anti-structure --3S-3 S-type based) different. Yeast source astaxanthin is 100% right-handed (3R-3'R), some antioxidant activity; these two sources of astaxanthin is mainly used in non-food animals and materials on the coloring. Only algae source of astaxanthin is 100% L-(3S-3 'S) structure, with the strongest biological activity, FUJI, YAMAHA that big business after many years of research, glutathione used as a human health food, grade cosmetics, pharmaceuticals. In physiological functions, synthetic astaxanthin stability and oxidation are lower than the natural astaxanthin. Since both ends of the astaxanthin molecule hydroxyl (-OH) can be caused by esterification of its stability is not the same down, natural astaxanthin more than 90% esterified form, it is more stable, synthetic astaxanthin in the free state is, therefore, stable is not the same as synthetic astaxanthin must be embedded in order to stabilize. Synthetic astaxanthin Since only about 1 / 4 of the L-structure, so its only natural antioxidant activity about 1 / 4. Effect on the application of artificial biological astaxanthin absorption effect is worse than natural astaxanthin, feed concentration is low, artificial blood astaxanthin concentration in rainbow trout was significantly lower than natural astaxanthin cited, biotin and in the body can not into a natural configuration, and its coloring ability is more than the same biological potency of natural astaxanthin concentration much lower. In the biological safety, the use of synthetic astaxanthin chemical means will be the inevitable introduction of chemical impurities, such as the synthesis of non-produced natural by-product, will reduce its bio-availability security. Therefore, the market can not be used in humans. Natural astaxanthin is by far the strongest of human anti-oxidants found in nature, and its antioxidant activity far more than the existing anti-oxidants. Led to the introduction of astaxanthin antioxidant market revolution, some even say: the 21st century will be the century of anti-oxidants. Source:http://www.cosprm.com