Xanthophyll

The characteristic color of egg yolk results from the presence of a xanthophyll pigment typical in color of lutein or zeaxanthin of the xanthophylls, a division of the carotenoids group.
This article is about Xanthophylls. For the compound xanthophyll, see lutein.

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: xanthos (ξανθός), meaning "yellow",[1] and phyllon (φύλλον), meaning "leaf"),[2] due to their formation of the yellow band seen in early chromatography of leaf pigments.

  1. ^ ξανθός. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
  2. ^ φύλλον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project