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Carotenoids Production: A Healthy and Profitable Industry

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Microbial Carotenoids

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1852))

Abstract

Carotenoids relevance as natural pigments is mainly due to their uses as colorants, feed supplements, nutraceuticals and for medical, cosmetic, and biotechnological purposes. Since they have putative health beneficial effects, the demand and market of carotenoids are growing significantly. There is a diversity of natural and synthetic carotenoids, but only a few of them are commercially produced, including carotenes (β-carotene and lycopene) and xanthophylls (astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and capsanthin). Some biotechnological processes for carotenoids production were established some years ago, but new strains and technologies are being developed nowadays for carotenoids widely in demand. This chapter shows a revision of the main carotenoids from a commercial point of view.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank for their collaboration to all the members of INBIOTEC and BIONICE. Special thanks to the European Union programs: i) ERA-IB 7th Joint Call [ProWood project (ERA-IB-16-040) through the APCIN call of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and the State Research Agency (AEI) (Project ID: PCIN-2016-081)] and ii) ERA CoBioTech Joint Call [Syntheroids project (ID: 48) through the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO), State Research Agency (AEI) and Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biotecnología de León (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, León, Spain

    Carlos Barreiro

  2. Area of Microbiology, School of Health Studies, Campus de Ponferrada, University of León, Ponferrada, Spain

    Carlos Barreiro

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Crystal Pharma, A Subsidiary of Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), Parque Tecnológico de León, León, Spain

    José-Luis Barredo

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  1. Carlos Barreiro
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  2. José-Luis Barredo
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Correspondence to Carlos Barreiro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biotecnología de León (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, León, Spain

    Carlos Barreiro

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Crystal Pharma, A Subsidiary of Albany, Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), Parque Tecnológico de León, León, Spain

    José-Luis Barredo

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Barreiro, C., Barredo, JL. (2018). Carotenoids Production: A Healthy and Profitable Industry. In: Barreiro, C., Barredo, JL. (eds) Microbial Carotenoids. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1852. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8742-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8742-9_2

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