Carotenoid Composition of Telekia speciosa

The carotenoid composition of the flower of Telekia speciosa was investigated for the first time by HPLC-DAD-MS. In addition to the main carotenoid lutein and its geometrical isomers, 5,6-epoxy-carotenoids, namely violaxanthin, lutein 5,6-epoxide and antheraxanthin, were detected in larger amounts. In addition, beta-carotene 5,6-epoxide and beta-carotene 5,6,5',6'-diepoxide were found, which occurs very rarely in plants. For unambigous identification, beta-carotene 5,6-epoxide and beta-carotene 5,6,5',6'-diepoxide were prepared semisynthetically, and they were characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR and HPLC-CD methods.