This document discusses vitamins found in plant extracts, focusing on VE (tocopherols), VC (ascorbic acid), and carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, astaxanthin). It describes the antioxidant functions of each, with VE and VC acting as important fat-soluble and water-soluble antioxidants, respectively, and carotenoids having significant antioxidant effects such as scavenging free radicals and protecting against oxidative damage.

1. Vitamins in Plant Extracts
A plant extract refers to an active substance extracted from a natural plant. Plant extracts are the
main raw materials for botanical preparations and can be used in nutritional supplements, health
foods, cosmetics industries. The active ingredients of plant extracts include alkaloids, saponins,
vitamins, polyphenols, polypeptides and polysaccharides. Among them, vitamins are both
essential nutrients and the most important antioxidants in the human body. Vitamins mainly
contain VE, VC and carotenoids. This article focuses on vitamins in plant extracts.
1 VE
VE is a general term for various tocopherols, among which α -tocopherol has the strongest
biological activity, and the physiological activities of β -tocopherol, γ -tocopherol and δ
-tocopherol are 40%, 8% and 20%, respectively. In most cases, the antioxidant effect of VE is to
provide hydrogen ions by reacting with lipoxygen radicals or lipid peroxy radicals, interrupting the
lipid peroxidation chain reaction. VE is the most important fat-soluble antioxidant.
2 VC
VC, also known as ascorbic acid, is an acidic polyhydroxy compound containing an
alpha-ketolactone of 6 carbon atoms. VC has an enol-type hydroxyl group capable of dissociating
hydrogen ions, and is the most important water-soluble antioxidant. It can remove active oxygen
radicals by supplying electrons step by step, and can promote regeneration of VE.
3 Carotenoid
There are more than 600 types of carotenoids, all of which have an isoprenoid structure with 11
double bonds. Carotenoids mainly include β -carotene, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Lycopene and
Astaxanthin.
3.1 β-carotene
Studies have found that β -carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene and astaxanthin also have
significant antioxidant functions. Among them, β-carotene is the most typical representative.
β -carotene is a precursor of VA, which has good oxidation resistance, and can suppress the
generation of active oxygen by providing electrons, thereby achieving the purpose of scavenging
free radicals.
3.2 Lutein and Zeaxanthin
There are 8 kinds of isomers of lutein, which are mainly found in dark green vegetables such as
cabbage and spinach, and flowers such as calendula and marigold. Zeaxanthin is mainly found in
foods such as hazelnuts, corn, spinach and asian persimmons. The effects of lutein and
zeaxanthin are very similar, mainly in reducing the damage of oxidation to the eyes, preventing
aging caused by visual speckle degradation, and preventing the oxidation of proteins and lipids in
the lens, thereby reducing the incidence of senile cataract.
3.3 Lycopene
Lycopene is an acyclic carotenoid with a chemical structure of a linear, all-trans structure
consisting of 11 conjugated double bonds and 2 non-conjugated double bonds. This structure can

2. accept the excitation of different electrons to generate ground state oxygen or triplet oxygen
lycopene. A triplet oxygen lycopene can remove thousands of singlet oxygen radicals, and its
antioxidant capacity is 100 times that of VE, is the strongest anti-aging antioxidant in nature.
3.4 Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin is a special oxidized carotenoid that has not only a long conjugated double bond in
the molecule like other carotenoids, but also has a hydroxyl group at the 3 and 4 positions of its
two violet rings. These structures have relatively active electronic effects, can provide electrons
to free radicals, or capture free radicals by attracting unpaired electrons of free radicals, so
astaxanthin has a stronger antioxidant function than general carotenoids.