556 VI. CAROTENOIDS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS 



Table 4 

 Chlorophyll and Carotenoid Content of Leaves" 



Amounts, g./kg. dried leaves 



" Table from L. Zechmei.ster, Die Carotinoide, Springer, Berlin, 1934, p. 115. Cited 

 from R. Willstatter and A. Stoll, Untersuchungen iiber Chlorophyll, Methoden und Ergeb- 

 nisse, Springer, Berlin, 1913. 



Lutein has been found in a wide variety of green leaves. ^'^•^**'^ Fresh 

 and fermented tea leaves both contain this carotenol, along with the 

 carotenes. ^^^' ^^^ The green leaves of the stinging nettle {Uriica 

 dioicay^^'"'^''^^^ and the dwarf nettle {Urtica iirens Heraculeum)"^'^*'' are 

 both sources of this pigment. Other green leaves in which lutein has been 

 shown to comprise an important part of the carotenoids are the following^^^: 

 Aesculus hippocasianum (horsechestnut), Trifolium pratense (red meadow 

 clover), Zea mays (yellow corn), Medicago sativa (Lucerne grass, alfalfa), 

 Spinacia oleracea inermis (g?a6?-a) (round-seeded spinach), and grass. 

 Karrer and Krause-Voigt^^^ have noted the presence of lutein in the Scotch 

 broom plant {Cytisus scoparius), along with the carotenes and chrysanthe- 

 maxanthin. Strain''^ states that lutein occurs in green and red algae, ^* but 

 that it is absent from brown and yellow-green algae, as well as from diatoms 

 and dinoflagellates. 



The yellow petals of a number of flowers contain lutein. "^-^'^'^ These in- 

 clude Tageies grandi flora (giant mangold), T. erecta (Aztec marigold), T. 

 patula (French marigold), T. nana (dwarf marigold), Helenium autumnale 

 (sneezeweed), Rudbeckia speciosa Newmanni (the showy coneflower), and 

 Helianthus annuus (sunflower). ^^^•^'^^•^^^ Lutein has been proved by a 

 number of different workers'^^^-^^^"^^^ to be a component of the pigment of 

 the common dandelion. The hawkbit or Fall dandelion {Leontodon 



288 P. Karrer and E. Krause-Voigt, Helv. Chim. Acta, SO, 1158-1159 (1947). 

 2*' R. Yamamoto and T. Muraoka, Sci. Papers Inst. Phys. Chem. Research Tokyo, 19, 

 127-133 (1932). 



290 M, Tsujimura, Sci. Papers Inst. Phys. Chem. Research Tokyo, 18, 13-21 (1932). 



2" L. Zechmeister and P. Tuzson, Ber., 61, 2003-2009 (1928); 62, 2226-2232 (1929). 



292 L. Zechmeister and P. Tuzson, Ber., 63, 3203-3207 (1930). 



2»3 P. Karrer and H. Salomon, Helv. Chim. Acta, IS, 1063-1067 (1930). 



29^ R. Kuhn and E. Lederer, Z. physiol. Chem., 200, 108-114 (1931). 



295 P. Karrer and J. Rutschmann, Helv. Chim. Ada, 25, 1144-1149 (1942). 



