The Effect of Light on Carotenoids of Etiolated Mung Bean Seedlings

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Abstract
Etiolated mung bean seedlings have been shown to contain the following carotenoids: phytofluene, β-carotene, β-zeacarotene, 5,6-monoepoxy-β-carotene, 5,6:5′, 6′-diepoxy-β-carotene, violaxanthin, lutein, 5,6-monoepoxylutein, flavoxanthin, and auroxanthin whereas in the light α-carotene and neoxanthin were also identified. In the dark, total carotenoids after 8 days were 71.4 μg/g compared to 926.5 μg/g dry weight in light. In the dark, whereas most of the other individual carotenoids were decreasing between 6 and 8 days, auroxanthin was increasing. Further, flavoxanthin (5,8-monoepoxylutein) and auroxanthin (5,8:5′, 8′-diepoxyzeaxanthin) were decreasing and disappeared in the light. Total xanthophylls increased much more than total carotenes on illuminating etiolated seedlings; lutein increased much more than β-carotene. This is in agreement with Goodwin and Phagpolngarm's (1960) results and in contrast to those of other workers who suggested that β-carotene was rapidly synthesized whereas xanthophyll levels altered only slightly under these conditions. However, a critical look at these results showed that a considerable increase in carotenes was more than matched by the increase in xanthophylls.

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