CAROTENOIDS IN PLANTS 



absorption spectrum and chromatographic properties very probably 

 ^-carotene. Karrer and Jucker ^ ^ suggest that it might be mutatochrome 

 but it appears less strongly adsorbed on alumina than mutatochrome. 

 Recently Manten^^® reported that Tolypothrix distorta var. sym- 

 plocoides contains ^-carotene and echinenone (myxoxanthin). 



Cryptophyceae 



Nothing apparently is known of the carotenoid contribution to the 

 pigmentation of this class of algae, Fritsch states that they show very 

 diverse pigmentation which is commonly some shade of brown. ^ ^ 



The properties of algal carotenoids and their quantitative and quali- 

 tative distribution are given in Tables, 21, 22,^ 23. 



Table 21. — Characteristic Algal Carotenoids 



Name 



Absorption maxima (m|i..) 



m.p. 



Ethanol 



CS, 



Euglenarhodone^ =Astaxant!hin {see p. 172) 



£-Carotene2 .. .. ! 418,442,471 



Diatoxanthin^ . . . . i 453, 481 



Diadinoxanthin^ . . . ' I 448, 478 



Fucoxanthin* . . . . I 166-167° | 459, 484 



Peridinin^ = Sulcatoxanthi'n {see Table 24, [p. 158) 



Dinoxanthin^ .. i 441-5, 471 ! 



Myxoxanthin^' '■ ^ ( = Echinenone) j ' 



Myxoxanthophyll«' 8 .. 169-170° 445.471,503 



Oscillaxanthin^ 



Aphanin^^ = Myxoxanthin = Echinenone ( 



Aphanicin . . . . . . 195° 



Aphanizophyll ? Myxoxan- 172-173° 



thophyll . . . . 



Flavacin (?= C-carotene, 155° 



{see Table 4) : 

 Siphonaxanthin^^ 



464, 496,531* 

 see Table 26, p. 



457, 491-5* 

 444, 475, 507* 



455 



445, 477, 510 



494, 528, 568 

 165) 



494. 533 



459, 489-5 



■f-' 



Actually measured in methanol. 



REFERENCES TO TABLE 21. 



1. TiscHER, J. (1944), Hoppe-Seyl. Z., 281, 143. 



2. Strain, H. H., and Manning, W. M. (1943), y. Amer. Chem. Soc, 65, 2258. 



3. Strain, H. H., Manning, W. M., and Hardin, G. (1944), Biol. Bull. Woods Hole, 86, 169. 



4. Heilbron, I. M., Parry, E. G., and Phiper^, R. F. (1935), Biochem. J., 29, 1369. 



5. Kylin, H. (1927), Hoppe-Seyl. Z., 166, 39. 



6. Heilbron, I. M., and Lythgoe, B. (1936), J. Chem. Soc, p. 1376. 



7. Goodwin, T. W., and Taha, M. M. (1950), Biochem. J., 47, 244. 



8. Lederer, E. (1935), C. r. Acad. Sci., Paris, 201, 300. 



9. Karrer, P., and Rutschmann, J. (1944), Helv. Chim. Acta, 27, 1691. 



10. Tischer, J. (1938, 1939), Hoppe-Seyl. Z., 251, 109 ; 260, 257. 



11. Strain, H. H. (1949), in Franck, J., and LoOMis, W. E. Photosynthesis in Plants. Iowa 



State Coll. Press. 



137 



