Pigments in Vegetables

Vegetables contain several classes of pigments: the green chlorophylls; the yellow orange and red carotenoids; the red blue or violet anthocyanins; andthered-violet betalains. Thisbookcoversthechlorophyllsandthecarot- enoids the two chief classes of vegetable pigments and is the first major compilationofthis kind. Structure physical and chemical properties and analytical methods in- cluding special methods adapted for certain vegetables are discussed first and are then followed by a discussion of physiological and biochemical as- pects including location biosynthesis and biochemical changes during plant developmentand senescence. Both pigment classes have extremelyimportant biological functions. The chlorophylls are of paramount importance in photosynthesis. The carot- enoids besides their photofunction have a highly significant role in nutri- tion. Someofthem havevitaminA value and possibly a rolein the preven- tion of human cancer. The chlorophyll distribution table includes all ofthe currentlyavailable quantitativedataonvegetables. The discussion of carotenoid distribution describes the unique carot- enoids found invegetablesandincludesqualitativeandquantitativedistribu- tion tables for the most common vegetables. These tables summarize all of the publisheddata to date but they are far from complete. However appli- cationofrecentlyavailabletechniques should fill theenormousgaps update old data and permit an accurate assessment of the vitamin A value of the food. Suchcompletedatawould also make it possible to usecarotenoid dis- tributioninthetaxonomyofvegetables. The presentations of pigment distribution also consider the changes in pigmentcontentduring storageand processing. Thebookalsoincludesapresentationoffactors affectingpigmentsynthe- sis in vegetables (e.g. phytohormones) and environmental factors (e.g. light temperature) as well as fertilizers and pesticides.