Carotenoids are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi.
Carotenoids give the characteristic colour to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, canaries, flamingos, salmon, lobster, shrimp, and daffodils.
Over 1,100 identified carotenoids can be further categorized into two classes:
- xanthophylls (which contain oxygen), and
- carotenes
[
Ref]