The stability of carotenoid pigments extracted from Chrysanthemum petals against pH, sugar, and organic acid was investigated. The contents of total carotenoids in C. boreale and C. morifolium were 3.37mg% and 4.56mg% Per fresh weight, respectively. The elect of pH on the stability of extracted carotenoids showed that the periods reaching 50% of pigment retention were more than 5 to 6 days in pH 4, and the longer periods in pH 6 to 7 in both samples. The addition of sugars such as sucrose, sorbitol, glucose and fructose resulted in the reduction in pigment stability of C. boreale, but C. morifolium was contrast to C. boreale. However, citric acid and ascorbic acid were found to have a protective effect on both carotenoid samples extracted from C. boreale and C. morifolium.

The edible natural pigments extracted from plant organs become steadly popular to consumer because of those physiological functions desirable for food preservation and human health in recent years. There are a number of colored rice genotypes from light brown to blackish purple via reddish brown and purple. Some researchers reported their results on extraction recipes and identification of chemical structure of the pigments from the colored rice. The pigments extracted from colored rices can be largely divided into two types of anthocyanin and tannin pigments. Anthocyanin pigments are mainly contained in purple or blackish purple rice while tannin pigments are mainly contained in brown or reddish brown rice. Some brownish purple rices showed two peaks of tannin and anthocyanin pigments simultaneously. Purple rices showed better extraction of pigments in 0.1~% HCl-contained 80~% methanol or 0.5~% malic-acid-contained 80~% ethanol, while red rices revealed better extraction of pigments in 0.01~% citric-acid-contained 80~% ethanol. The anthocyanin pigments are generally unstable to heat, light and acidity of solution. The pigments extracted from colored rice can be preserved stably under the dark and cool(<5~circC ) condition and at pH 2.0~~4.0 . The anthocyanin pigments of purple rice are mainly composed by cyanidin-3-glucoside (chrysanthemin). The other pigment fractions in purple rice were identified to peonidin-3-gluco-side, malvidin-3-galactoside(uliginosin) and cyanidin-3-ramnoglucoside(keracyanin). The pericarp coloration of purple rices is controlled by three complimentary genes C (anthocyanin), A(activator) and Plw (purple leaf) genes, while the red rices are expressed by complimentary interaction between Rc(basic substance of pigment) and Rd(distribution of pigment) genes or C and Plw genes. Recently, the antioxidation and antimutagenic activity in main component of anthocyanin pigments extracted from colored rice were identified. The natural pigments from colored rice can be useful for beverages, cakes, ice scream, cosmetic and so on.

Photosynthetic pigments and their degradation products in suspended and sinking particles collected from the Gulf of Mexico waters 1987∼88, were measured using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The short term variations in flux rates of chlorophylls and carotenoids as well as their degradation products were compared at the mesoscale cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation features (cold core ring and warm core ring). Chlorophyll a was the predominant porphyrin of suspended particulate matter at both CCR and WCR. Among carotenoid pigments, 19`-hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin, which is a biomarker of prymnesiophytes, was dominant pigment at both rings. Phaeophorbide a, which is produced through the grazing processes of grazers, was the predominant degraded pigment in sinking particles at the study area. Total pigment flux in CCR was an order of magnitude higher than that in WCR. Less than 1% of the standing stock of the pigments measured sank out of the upper 200 m of the WCR on any given day. Thus, suspended particulate matter in Gulf of Mexico was not recycled rapidly.