In a functional food fortified with carotenoids, oxidative damage could result in loss of both product quality and bioactivity.
These dangerous aspects of carotenoid oxidation highlight how it is important to have a critical understanding of the mechanisms of carotenoid oxidation so that technologies can be developed to optimize stability in functional foods.
This is oxidation mechanisms by which carotenoids are degraded,including pathways induced by heat, light, oxygen, acid, transition metal, or interactions with radical species.