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A 30-day experiment was carried out to comparison the effect of carrot and beetroot as natural pigments and synthetic astaxanthin on growth performance, hematological parameters, and tissue color in rainbow trout fingerlings. 150 juvenile rainbow trout with initial mean weight of 21.44 ± 1.25g fed diets containing 50 and 100 mg/kg carrot; 100 mg/kg beetroot; 100 mg/kg synthetic astaxanthin and a control diet. Body weight increasing and specific growth rate were higher in fish fed the diet containing 100 mg beetroot than those of the control diet. Hematological study including red blood cell, white blood cell, hematocrit and hemoglobin showed significant differences between treatments (p<0.05). Carrot and beetroot had higher values of red blood cell, white blood cell, hematocrit and hemoglobin than those of the synthetic astaxanthin and control diet. Triglyceride and cholesterol value were significantly higher in diet containing 100 mg beet (p<0.05). Carotenoid content analysis from skin, tissue and blood revealed that inclusion of plant source of carotenoid including carrot and beetroot resulted in a significant increase in carotenoid concentration (p<0.05). The study concluded that plant source of carotenoid such as carrot and beetroot could improve immune systems in rainbow trout by increasing white and red blood cells and also, fish fed diet supplemented with natural carotenoid (carrot and beet) showed better coloration.

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The effect of Spirulina powder at levels of 0 (control), 3, 7, and 10%, of food ratio on growth, survival, and total carotenoids of dwarf gourami fry (Trichogasterlalius) of 3.6 g average weight as well as its larval stage was investigated for a period of 8 weeks. Carotenoids was significantly increased with increase in spirulina level up to 7% (p<0.05), but not significantly different from 10% level (p> 0.05). Survival showed no significant difference (p> 0.05). In larvae, survival, total carotenoids and total length increased significantly with increasing spirulina powder (p<0.05). Overall, the spirulina powder at 3% improved the growth and total carotenoids factors in pre-adult gourami and 10% level for larval stage as the best treatments in this study.

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Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate effect of pellets contain Spirulina platensis on physiological indices of Ctenopharyngodon idella.
Materials & Methods: The number of 450 grass carp (10±0.5g) were divided into six treatments (three replicates) and fed with pellets contain 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4% spirulina for eight weeks, compared to forage (control). At initial and the end of experiment, growth and nutrition indices, meat composition, hematological and immunological indices, and carotenoid of fish were mesured. Means were compared by one-way ANOVA, Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05).
Findings: The best total length, weight, FCR, SGR, body weight gain, nutritional efficiency, daily growth and dietary intakes were observed in 4% Spirulina treatment, which showed significant difference with control (P˂0.05). Fat percentage of meat in 4% Spirulina treatment had difference with control significantly (P˂0.05). The number of RBCs in 1% spirulina treatment had significant difference (P˂0.05) with control. The highest Hct and Hb were observed in 1% spirulina treatment, and the highest WBCs and eosinophils were observed in 4% spirulina treatment, which had significant difference with control. Also, the percentage of lymphocytes in algae-treated treatments was significantly (P˂0.05) higher than control and non-algae-treated treatment. The highest level of lysozyme, bactericidal and anti-trypsin activity of serum were in 4% spirulina which had significant difference with control. Carotenoid of fish meat didn’t show significant difference between treatments.
 Conclusion: According to the results, food pellets containing 4% Spirulina is recommended for improving growth and nutrition, hematological and immunological indices in grass carp.

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Aims: Carotenoids are a vast group of lipid-soluble pigments, which are produced by variety of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to compare the production of carotenoid pigments by prokaryotic isolates of Iranian saline ecosystems and identify superior isolate.
Materials & Methods: In this the experimental study, isolates were purified by culture-based methods and carotenoid extracts were analyzed by spectrophotometry in wavelength region of 400nm to 600nm. The total carotenoid content was estimated by spectrophotometry at λ_max (490nm). Identity of bands was detremined by purification of bands by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and analysis by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).
Findings: Fourty-three isolates were obtained. Eight isolates were halotolerant bacteria, 8 isolates were moderately halophile, and 27 isolates were extremely halophile. All of the strains were capable of producing carotenoid compounds. Isolate M24 with 2054μg/g production was selected as superior isolate. Thin layer chromatography exhibited 6 colored bands in colored extract of this strain and the most concentrated band was purified. After purification by TLC and HPLC, spectrophotometry in UV range showed two pics at 530nm and 465nm as the highest absorbances, which were similar to UV absorbance of α-bacterioruberin. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain M24 showed that this strain had 98% similarity with Haloarcula amylolytica BD-3.
Conclusion: From Iranian Saline Ecosystems, 43 isolates are obtained. Eight isolates are halotolerant bacteria, 8 isolates are moderately halophile, and 27 isolates are extremely halophile. All of the isolates are capable of producing carotenoid compounds. Strain M24 is superior isolate, having 98% similarity with Haloarcula amylolytica BD-3.

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Aims: The increasing development of microalgae applications has led to the concentration of new multidisciplinary studies to facilitate commercial cultivation of these organisms due to cost reduction and productivity enhancement. The aim of this study was the growth and quality optimization of Spirulina biomass by changing the dilution of medium and using the aeration cycle.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the effect of concentration of Zarrouk medium (0 to 100% dilution) and aeration cycle on specific growth rate and dry weight, as well as the content of chlorophyll and carotenoids of Spirulina were investigated, using response surface method, central design. A total duration of 16 hours was aerated in any 24-hour period; the interval time between these aerated periods varied between 1 to 8 hours. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software, using multiple regression test.
Findings: The highest biomass (0.659mg/ml) was obtained at 80% concentration of culture media and aeration cycle of 2.75 hours and the highest specific growth rate (0.230 daily) was obtained at 60% concentration and aeration cycle of 4.5 hours. The highest aeration cycle (8 hours) resulted in a significant and simultaneous increase in the content of chlorophyll and carotenoids (11.65 and 2.67 mg/g, respectively).
Conclusion: The growth and quality optimization of Spirulina biomass can be accomplished by changing the dilution of the medium and using the aeration cycle.

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Aim This investigation aims to study the effect of biochar on gas exchange, water relations and photosynthetic pigments of European yew (Taxus baccata) seedling in different light intensities (LI).
Materials and Methods Two-year potted seedlings of European yew are placed in forest stands with canopies of closed (15% LI), semi-closed (45% LI) and open (75% LI). In late June 2018, biochar was added to potted soils at the levels of zero, 10, 20 and 30 g.kg^-1 and until the end of November, every 3 (or 4) days 100 mL water was given to each pot.
Findings Seedling survival at different levels of treatments was 100%. Regardless of biochar, the highest photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO₂ concentration, relative water content, chlorophyll (chl) contents in closed canopy, and the highest leaf temperature in open canopy was observed. With increasing biochar concentration, chl b and total chl increased (28-86%, respectively) in open canopy and decreased (28 and 28%, respectively) in closed canopy. Neither biochar nor LI affected significantly electrolyte leakage and carotenoid content.
Conclusion Although yew seedlings were able to maintain their vegetative quality and health in different LI, and the measured variables responded differently to light-biochar combination, it may be best to grow yew in shade together with biochar. Since, the effect of biochar becomes more tangible over time, further research in next years can lead to more accurate findings affected by the combined light-biochar treatment.

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In the present study,sampling was carried out using 7 extra virgin olive oils from  Gillan, Zanjan, Ghazvin, Golestan,Fars and Kermanshah Province. The amounts of the chlorophylls and carotenoidswere determined  for each sample using diol-phase cartridges and the extract was analysed by reverse-phase HPLC.Pheophytina (29/29%)  show the highest content of all pigments in Iranian extra virgin olive oils and pyropheophytin (0/14%) show the lowest concentrations. Lutein (51/48%)  show the highest content of all carotenoids pigments followed by violaxanthin in Iranian olive oils  and betacaroten (0/76%) and anthraanthin show the lowest concentrations. Pheophyting a shows the highest content of all pigments followed by chlorophyll a in Iranian olive oils and pheophytina andpyropheophytin show the lowest concentrations. The correlation between amount of pigments and three environment factors; temperature, raining fall and height were investigated. Statistical studies showedthere is a direct relationship between pyropheophytin content and the hight of sampeling local with a 95% confidence limit.An increase in hight resulted in decrease pigments.And also there is a positive correlation at 95% confidence level between lutein and raining of sampeling local.When raing of sampling local increases, lutein has been increasing as well. Statistical studies showed no correlation between temperature and amount of pigmens in the olive oils.

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In the present study, sampling was carried out using 7 virgin olive oils from  different  Province. The amounts of the carotenoids were determined  for each sample using diol-phase cartridges and the extract was analysed by reverse-phase HPLC. For evaluating the stability of olive oil samples, the peroxide value measured 4 continus weeks in two different coditions of light and darkness. Given to the obtained results lutein (51/48%)  show the highest content of all carotenoids pigments in Iranian olive oils and betacaroten (0/76%) show the lowest concentrations. Cis lutein pigment is one of the pigment affecting olive oil stability in the light acting as a pro-oxidant to reduce the stability and increase peroxide index. Betacryptoxanthin  is factor that affecting the stability of oil exposed to darkness acting as peroxidants to reduce the stability and increase rancidity.

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Coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀) is a component of the respiratory chain that is responsible for generating energy by transmitting electrons. Today, due to the increasing demand for CoQ₁₀, its production is increasing. In this study, the effect of extract containing of carotenoid from bell pepper as a precursor was investigated on CoQ₁₀ production by Gluconobacter japonicus FM10. For this purpose, at first the total carotenoid was extracted from four colors of bell peppers and then the minimum inhibitory concentration of these extracts was measured. In the next step, the effect of extracts was investigated on CoQ₁₀ production in two phases of the exponential and stationary. The results showed that CoQ₁₀ production was increased in the presence of the bell pepper extract (4.1 mg / L in the presence of red bell pepper extract). In fact, 1.5 times more than when no extract was added. Adding red pepper extract in the exponential phase also increased CoQ₁₀ to 4.9 mg / L, while adding it in the stationary phase did not affect CoQ₁₀ increasing. Therefore, it can be concluded that the carotenoid in bell pepper extract increase the production of CoQ₁₀ by affecting cell growth and increasing it. Therefore, the carotenoid-extract of bell pepper can be introduced as a suitable precursor to increase CoQ₁₀ production.

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Apricot fruit consumption increased during past decades because of fruit is a rich source of carotenoids, polyphenol compounds, micro and macro element and vitamins. Current study was carried out to monitored quality changes during fruit ripening and post-harvest period. ‘Asgarabadi’ cultivar fruit was stored at 1 ⁰C and sampling was carried out in 0, 1, 7, 14 and 21 days. Some fruit quality attributes such as soluble solid content (SSC), titrable acidity (TA), carotenoid content, flesh color, total phenol (TP) and fruit antioxidant activity was monitored. SSC increased from 15.5 to 17.7 during experiment while TA was decreased. Carotenoid content was increased and it was accompanied with decrease in color index. TP was 101 mg Gallic acid in 100 g of fresh weight and there were no significant changes during experiment. The evaluation of result indicated that low temperature storage prolonged fruit postharvest life, maintain TP content and improved carotenoid content and color although some antioxidant parameters decreased  

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Background: Carotenoids are biological antioxidants and play important roles in protecting the body from diseases and aging. Canthaxanthin is one of the most widely used carotenoids in the industry and medicine. This study aimed to investigate the biological properties of canthaxanthin pigment as well as its production optimization in a low-cost medium using a radioresistant microbial strain named Dietzia maris.
Materials and methods: Bacterial carotenoids were extracted and its antibacterial, anti-tumor, and cytotoxicity properties were investigated. Then, the effect of Krebs intermediates and pH on the production of pigment and microbial biomass in the whey medium was investigated using the response surface methodology.
Results: Maximum pigment production was found to be 92/54 mg/l in whey culture medium at pH 8 and in the presence of 12.5 mM of each of citrate, glutamate, malate, and succinate by the response surface method. The pigment did not show any cytotoxic effect on Hela, HFB, and MCF-7 cell lines. Besides, the pigment did not have any antibacterial properties.
Conclusion: Radioresistant microbial strains are better candidates for microbial pigment production due to their stability and high antioxidant activity. In this study, a whey culture medium was used to reduce the production cost of canthaxanthin. The addition of Krebs intermediaries in the fermentation medium increased the pigment production by Dietzia maris significantly.

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Shrimp by-products can be used as the cheapest raw material to extract bioactive compounds such as lipid extract rich in carotenoid pigments.  The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional composition of shrimp by-product powder, maximize the extraction efficiency of carotenoid extract using ethanol, hexane, hexane/acetone, and hexane/isopropyl alcohol solvents, and also evaluate the effect of solvent type on the solubility and antioxidant properties of carotenoid extract. According to the results, the shrimp by-product powder contained 53.11% protein, 4.51% moisture, 28.58% ash, 3.45% fat, and 10.45% carbohydrate. The results also showed that using a mixed solvent of hexane/isopropyl alcohol (1:1 ratio) resulted in the highest extraction efficiency of 1.81 g/100 g of dry powder, while the extraction efficiency with ethanol, hexane, and hexane/acetone solvents was 1.53, 1.42, and 1.17 g/100 g of dry powder, respectively. The results of the extract solubility test also showed that the lipid extracted with ethanol solvent has the highest water solubility and the highest antioxidant property (up to 99.10%). In general, the results of this study showed that the use of polar solvents can increase the solubility of carotenoid extract extracted from shrimp by-products and facilitate one of the most important challenges of using this compound in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

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Drought is an important abiotic stress limiting plant performance. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is enhanced under stresses. Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of phytohormones on the changes of antioxidant enzymes and carotenoids in petals of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) under drought stress. Results showed that the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) increased 47 and 73%, respectively, in petals under water deficit conditions compared with the control plants. Spraying with gibberellic acid (GA3) and benzyl amino purine (BAP) alleviated drought effects, but application of abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA) and brassinolid (BR) induced the activity of these enzymes. In the case of peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7), GA3 enhanced the enzyme activity unlike the other enzymes and the rest of the phytohormones had no significant effect on POD activity under either stressed or non-stressed condition. Concentration of carotenoids was affected by drought and hormone treatments. Concentration of carotenoids increased under water deficit but, GA3, BAP and JA had inhibitory effects on lycopene and carotene synthesis, while the rest of the hormones increased them. Spraying with GA3 increased luteoxanthin concentration in petals by 35 and 20% in comparison with the non-stressed and stressed environments, respectively. The decrease in POD activity under stress suggests that other mechanisms might be involved for ROS scavenging in petals of pot marigold.

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Dunaliella is a green halotolerant microalga, which has several industrial applications e.g. β-carotene production. Identification of different Dunaliella species has been carried out by morpho-physiological and recently molecular studies. To achieve an improved understanding of taxonomy, these studies are required to be in linkage. The present study describes molecular and specific morpho-physiological properties of a Dunaliella isolate obtained from Gavkhooni salt marsh in Iran. Phylogenetic analysis of Internal Transcribed Spacer region demonstrated that the isolate was associated with different species except D. salina (CCAP 19/18 and 19/30) and D.viridis. 18S rDNA size of the isolate was identical to that of D. tertiolecta and intron-lacking strains of D. salina. 18S rDNA fingerprint profile and phylogenetic analysis revealed D. tertiolecta as the closest taxon to the isolate. Features of optimum growth salinity (1.5-3% w/v) and maximum carotenoid per cell (0.7 pg cell^-1) were comparable with reported data for D. terrtiolecta. Morphological characteristics including the size and color of the cells, presence and location of stigma and refractile granules were similar to those of D. tertiolecta. Totally, considering molecular and morpho-physiological properties, the isolate was attributed to the species D. tertiolecta and was named as Dunaliella tertiolecta ABRIINW-G3.

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The purpose of the present research was to investigate four commercial cultivars of tomato (Karoon, 3402, LS0019 and H1015) in order to determine the physicochemical attributes of the cultivar. During this investigation, fruit qualities were evaluated: Soluble solids, total solids, and moisture, pH, lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, and β-cryptoxanthin contents, color indexes (CIE a* b^* L*), hue angle (h), chroma (C), total polyphenols and antioxidant activity.The amounts of total solids, a^*, b^*, L^*, carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, β-cryptoxanthin), total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity (Free radical scavenging capacity, reducing power, total antioxidant capacity) remained significantly different among the investigated cultivars (p<0.05). The results showed that the H1015 cultivar had the highest antioxidant activity and carotenoids content especially lycopene. Moreover, this cultivar had the best color indexes (highest a^*) in comparison with the other cultivars, it is concluded that the H1015 cultivar is comparable to other cultivars and thus is recommended for cultivation and processing.

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Among legumes, lentil is very rich in protein and is called the meat of poor people. In this study physicochemical, nutritional value and antioxidant properties of two cultivars of Iranian black and green lentils, including moisture and volatiles, total ash, total fat, protein, crude fiber, carbohydrate, measurement of total antioxidant activity and carotenoids content were investigated. Obtained results show that, green lentil contains a higher amount of moisture and volatiles (6.72 g/100g) and carbohydrate (59.34 g/100g), in comparison black lentil had a higher amount of ash (mineral element) (3.66 g/100g), crude fiber (7.40 g/100g), fat (1.95 g/100g), protein (26.02 g/100g) and higher antioxidant activity based on DPPH (IC₅₀= 2408.8 mg/L) and FRAP (concentration of Fe²⁺ ion= 0.4 mM) experiment. The carotenoid content of black lentil was determined 0.024 μg/g and was higher than green lentil (0.011 μg/g). So it can be said that, despite the advantages of black lentil over green lentil, it remains unknown nutritionally, and it seems very appropriate both economic and agricultural recommending people to consume and to put up black lentil in their diet, with regard to rainfed of lentil and dryland cultivation source in our country.

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The research focused to evaluate physical, chemical, and sensory properties of raw, blanched, and 2, 4, and 6% osmotically salt treated Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) peel powder. The yields of Mandarin Peel Powder (MPP) were found in the range of 29.1 to 30.4% (db) for different treatments, which were not significantly different. The bulk density and solubility were found in the range of 1,267-1,308 (kg m^-3) and 17.4-28.4%, respectively, the highest value was for blanched peel powder. Blanched peel powder contained highest carotenoids (3245 µg g^-1) and polyphenols (102.72 mg GAE g^-1) whereas 6% salt treated peel powder contained the highest Tannin (0.19 mg of GA 100 g^-1 FW), ascorbic acid (13.62 mg 100 g^-1), and antioxidant activity (66.1% DPPH inhibition) among the other treatments. Blanched peel powder was found to be the best in terms of sensory evaluation.

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In 2018, the effect of combined treatments of gamma aminobutyric acid with carnuba wax on storage of fresh pistachio cultivar Ahmad Aghaie was investigated using a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three repeats. Factors were edible coatings in five levels including control (distilled water), 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (G10), 1% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C1G10), 2% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C2G10) and 3% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C3G10) and the storage time at two levels (25 and 50 days). The results showed that most of the qualitative and quantitative traits such as hull and kernel firmness (4-8% for hull firmness and 7-19% for kernel firmness in different treatments), hull moisture percent (1-2%), total kernel chlorophyll (11-34% in different treatments), aroma (3-30%) and taste (7% decrease in 50^th day) showed a descending trend during storage. Kernel carotenoids (5-22%), kernel phenolic compounds (35-44%), kernel flavonoids (8-32%), kernel lipids (31-65%), and antioxidant activity (2-4%) showed an increasing trend. Among the applied treatments, C1G10 seemed to be able to retain most of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of fresh Ahmad Aghaie pistachio up to 50 days of storage.