Unlock Exclusive Discounts & Flash Sales! Click Here to Join the Deals on Every Wednesday!
Carotenoids are tetraterpenoid pigments found in plants, bacteria, and fungi that are among the most widely distributed colored compounds in nature. They can be broadly classified into carotenes (hydrocarbons without oxygen) and xanthophylls (which contain oxygen). Carotenoids from the ingested food are first taken up by the intestinal mucosal cells after saponification of ester linkages to fatty acids (if necessary) and lipid micellization. In vitro studies with caco-2 intestinal cell lines and ARPE-19 retinal pigment epithelial cell lines have demonstrated an important role for scavenger receptor protein B1 (SR-B1) in the selective uptake of carotenoids into the gut and into the eye. Along with SR-B1, an intestinal transcription factor.