Isolation and Characterization of Carotenoid Pigments of Micrococcus roseus

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Abstract
In addition to canthaxanthin, 7 pigment fractions were isolated from M. roseus. They were purified by solvent partitioning and by column and thin-layer chromatography. Visible absorption spectra, chromatographic behavior and partition coefficients of the pigments and derivatives prepared from the pigments were used in characterizing them. Both [alpha]- and [beta]-carotene derivatives were present. The structure of 1 pigment was suggested as phoenicoxanthin (3-hydroxy-4,4''[image]-diketo-B-carotene). Four other pigments were tentatively characterized as a dihydroxy-3,4-dehydro-[alpha]-carotene, a dihydroxy-[alpha]-carotene, a diketo-a-carotene and a polyhydroxy-[beta]-carotene. Two pigments were isolated in trace amounts and could not be characterized. All the pigments studied were isolated as mixtures of cis-trans isomers and all except the diketo-[alpha]-carotene were isolated as esters from M. roseus. Quantitation of the pigments showed that canthaxanthin (4,4[image]-diketo-[beta]-carotene) represented 85% of the pigment recovered from extracts. Three of the other pigments contributed a significant proportion of the remaining pigments, whereas the other 4 were present in only small amounts. [beta]-Carotene derivatives comprised 96% and a-carotene derivatives 4% of the pigments recovered from extracts.