Α-Carotene
chemical compound
α-Carotene (alpha-carotene) is a form of carotene with a β-ionone ring at one end and an α-ionone ring at the opposite end. It is the second most common form of carotene.
Human physiology
In American and Chinese adults, the mean concentration of serum α-carotene was 4.71 μg/dL. Including 4.22 μg/dL among men and 5.31 μg/dL among women.
Dietary sources
The following vegetables are rich in alpha-carotene:
Yellow-orange vegetables: Carrots (the main source for U.S. adults), sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash
Dark-green vegetables: Broccoli, green beans, green peas, spinach, turnip greens, collards, leaf lettuce, avocado
Research
A 2018 meta-analysis found that both dietary and circulating α-carotene are associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. The highest circulating α-carotene category, compared to the lowest, correlated with a 32% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality, while increased dietary α-carotene intake was linked to a 21% decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality.
The public source identifies “Α-Carotene” as chemical compound. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Α-Carotene, chemical and compound.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 8, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q142871. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2018.
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This entry incorporates text from “Α-Carotene” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.