Studies on the carotenoids in the muscle of salmon. III. Combination of astaxanthin and canthaxanthin with fish muscle actomyosins associated with their surface hydrophobicity.

Abstract

Actomyosins from coho salmon, rainbow trout, stone flounder, carp, skipjack, common mackerel and jack mackerel white muscles, and coho salmon dark muscle were combined with astaxanthin or canthaxanthin. These actomyosins bound with a high affinity to astaxanthin. The actomyosins from salmonids showed a higher affinity to ketocarotenoids than those of other fishes except common mackerel. A correlation between surface hydrophobicity of actomyosins and combination of astaxanthin and/or canthaxanthin with actomyosins was observed. The selective accumulation mechanism for ketocarotenoids is discussed.