Carotenoids are special compounds; Although it is common to refer to them as pigments, the truth is that they are compounds of great versatility and importance in nature. More specifically, they are of great interest in agri-food and health.
Thus, for example, they are natural pigments and therefore have an important role in the choice of food by consumers. Also, some of them are precursors of vitamin A. However, the increasing interest in carotenoids in this context is largely due to many studies of a different nature that indicate that they may provide health benefits. Their interest in functional nutrition is therefore unquestionable.
This book reflects the experience in carotenoids of a large number of professionals in the Ibero-American region. Together, it provides an overview of the research on these compounds in agri-food and health. The authors are members of the network
IBERCAROT ( http://carotenoides.us.es ), whose objectives are to form a stable and functional network of professionals who join forces in order to identify new sources of carotenoids of nutritional interest, improve their production and increase the value of the products that contain them.
