Abstract
Publisher Summary Microorganisms and plants, which make carotenoids from acetylcoenzyme A via geranyl geranyl pyrophosphate, oxidize and cleave them in a variety of ways. Both central and excentric cleavage occur in these organisms. The best studied reaction in mammals is the oxidative cleavage of all-trans-β-carotene to two molecules of all-trans-retinal, a reaction catalyzed by β-carotenoid 15,15’-dioxygenase. The enzymatic cleavage of carotenoids to β-apocarotenals has not been unambiguously demonstrated in mammalian tissues, although chemical reactions of this kind occur at a slow rate in the presence of oxygen). This chapter focuses, therefore, on methods for measuring β-carotenoid 15,15’-dioxygenase. The chapter includes a brief treatment of excentric cleavage in microorganisms. Excentric cleavage clearly occurs in plants and microorganisms, as evidenced by the presence of β-apocarotenals and derivatives such as azafrin, bixin, and crocetin in nature.
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