Lycopene photoprotection. Like all carotenoids, lycopene is a tetraterpene. It is insoluble in water. Eleven conjugated double bonds give lycopene its deep red color. Owing to the strong color, lycopene is useful as a food coloring (registered as E160d) and is approved for use in the USA, Australia and New Zealand (registered as 160d) and the European Union. Lycopene is a symmetrical tetraterpene assembled from eight isoprene units. It is a member of the carotenoid family of compounds, and because it consists entirely of carbon and hydrogen, is also a carotene. Isolation procedures for lycopene were first reported in 1910, and
Alumina effect pigment Alumina effect pigment An alumina effect pigment is a pearlescent pigment based on alumina (aluminium oxide). In the first step of the production process, AlO (Aluminium oxide) flakes with a very smooth surface are formed. The flakes are produced using a crystal growth process. They are formed in the corundum structure (α-AlO). The desired flake shape is achieved by controlled crystal growth in the axial and equatorial directions. The color purity and transparency of the effect pigments obtained by coating the AlO flakes with metal oxides can be attributed to the synthesis procedure yielding single-crystalline thin flakes The coating of