xanthophyll
Xanthophylls (originally phylloxanthins) are yellow pigments that occur widely in nature and form one of two major divisions of the carotenoid group; the other division is formed by the carotenes. The name is from Greek: (), meaning "yellow", an ...
class of carotenoids. As a
food coloring
Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...
, it has the
E number
E numbers, short for Europe numbers, are codes for substances used as food additives, including those found naturally in many foods, such as vitamin C, for use within the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Commonly ...
E160c(i). Capsanthin is the main
carotenoid
Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...
in the ''
Capsicum annuum
''Capsicum annuum'' is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America. The plant produces Berry, berries of many color ...
'' species of plants including
red bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diffe ...
,
New Mexico chile
New Mexico chile or New Mexican chile (Scientific name: ''Capsicum annuum'' 'New Mexico Group'; , ) is a cultivar group of the chile pepper from the US state of New Mexico, first grown by Puebloan peoples, Pueblo and Hispanos of New Mexico, Hispa ...
, and
cayenne pepper
The cayenne pepper is a type of ''Capsicum annuum''. It is usually a hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. Cayenne peppers are a group of tapering, 10 to 25 cm long, generally skinny, mostly red-colored peppers, often with a curved ti ...
s (''Capsicum annuum'') and a component of
paprika oleoresin
Paprika oleoresin (also known as paprika extract and oleoresin paprika) is an oil-soluble extract from the fruits of ''Capsicum annuum'' or ''Capsicum frutescens'', and is primarily used as a colouring and/or flavouring in food products. It is com ...
. Capsanthin is also found in some species of lily. Of all carotenoids, capsanthin is considered to have the greatest antioxidant capacity due to the presence of eleven conjugated double bonds, a conjugated keto group, and a cyclopentane ring.
zeaxanthin
Zeaxanthin is one of the most common carotenoids in nature, and is used in the xanthophyll cycle. Synthesized in plants and some micro-organisms, it is the pigment that gives paprika (made from bell peppers), corn, saffron, goji ( wolfberries) ...
have often been touted for their ability to help eye functionality. Capsanthin may also be able to support eye health and recent research has revealed its potential to help maintain
intraocular pressure
Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the fluid pressure inside the eye. Tonometry is the method eye care professionals use to determine this. IOP is an important aspect in the evaluation of patients at risk of glaucoma. Most tonometers are calibrated t ...
within a healthy range. A clinical study on
Wistar rats
Laboratory rats or lab rats are strains of the rat subspecies '' Rattus norvegicus domestica'' (Domestic Norwegian rat) which are bred and kept for scientific research. While less commonly used for research than laboratory mice, rats have ser ...
explored this effect over the course of 28 days. The rats were induced with higher intraocular pressure and then either given a placebo or capsanthin. At the end of the trial, rats that consumed capsanthin had normalized their eye pressure comparable to the control group that had normal pressure levels.