What is the difference between a carotene and b carotene

Beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A. It is only present in the plant kingdom. Vitamin A is also important for night vision. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant. The body can absorb it better after it is cooked in fat.

Why should we eat some daily? What are the roles of vitamin A and beta-carotene? What is the recommended intake? Where is it found? Beta-carotene content in foods.

Retinol is the most usable of the three forms and can be converted to both retinal and retinoic acid in your body. Preformed vitamin A is found only in foods from animal sources, such as liver and eggs, and is added to all processed milk. Plant food sources do not contain preformed vitamin A, but some do contain provitamin A carotenoid, which can be converted to retinol in your body.

Carotenoids are the yellow-red pigments that give carrots, butternut squash, and cantaloupe their vibrant, deep orange color. These three provide approximately 25 to 35 percent of the dietary vitamin A consumed by adults in the United States, with the majority of it coming from beta-carotene.

It is a red-orange pigment found in fruits and vegetables. Sources of retinol are meat, liver, cod liver oil, kidneys, liver plate, butter, cheese, egg yolk and oily fish.

Source of B-carotene are green leafy vegetables and fruits like carrots, spinach, tomatoes, parsley, rosehips, kale, peas, mango etc. It gets converted to retinol in the intestinal mucous membrane. In addition, carotenoids have anti-inflammatory effects and some immune functions, which help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Figure 2: Egg Yolk with Lutein and Zeaxanthin. Furthermore, the two main categories of carotenoids are carotenes and xanthophylls.

The main difference between carotene and xanthophyll is that carotene does not contain oxygen atoms in its structure while xanthophyll contains an oxygen atom. Additionally, they absorb and emit light in different wavelengths. Therefore, carotene gives a red to orange color while xanthophyll mainly gives a yellow color.

When considering xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin are the two types responsible for the yellow color of the macula lutea or the yellow spot in the retina of the human eye.

The yellow spot is responsible for the central vision while protecting the retina from blue light. Furthermore, good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin are kale, spinach, turnip greens, summer squash, pumpkin, paprika, yellow-fleshed fruits, avocado, and egg yolk.

A carotene refers to an orange or red plant pigment found in carrots and many other plant structures while carotenoid refers to any of a class of mainly yellow, orange, or red fat-soluble pigments, which give color to plant parts such as ripe tomatoes and autumn leaves.

Thus, this is the main difference between carotene and carotenoid. Importantly, carotene is a type of carotenoid while the two types of carotenoids are carotene and xanthophyll.