β-胡罗卜素是胡罗卜素的一种最普通的异构体,广泛存在于动物植中,也是一种常用的食用色素。β-胡罗卜素可由植物提取,亦可人工合成。FAO/WHO食品添加剂联合专家委员会已对人工合成的β-胡罗卜素制订了ADI值,对天然β-胡罗卜素虽进行过评价,但由于毒理学资料不足而未制订ADI值。我国目前亦仅允许使用人工合成的β-胡罗卜素。为在我国开发天然β-胡罗卜素作 Beta-carotene is one of the most common isomers of carotene, widely found in animal plants and a common food coloring. Beta-carotene can be extracted from plants, but also synthetic. The Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has developed an ADI value for synthetic beta-carotene and has evaluated natural beta-carotene but has not developed an ADI value due to insufficient toxicological data. At present, China also only allows the use of synthetic β-carotene. For the development of natural β-carotene in our country