Astaxanthin Fights Singlet Oxygen

KAMIICHI, JapanSinglet oxygen, a reactive oxygen species, directly damages biological lipids, protein and DNA. Researchers at the Institute for Food Science Research, Kamiichi, Japan, studied the performance of the antioxidant astaxanthin and its ability to combat singlet oxygen (Nishida Y. et al, Quenching Activities of Common Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Antioxidants. Carotenoid Science 2007; 11:16-20).The study, performed with exacting conditions for all the antioxidant compounds tested, compared common antioxidants with that of carotenoids. Results showed astaxanthin may be the most potent to fight against singlet oxygen.