FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to composition comprising carotenoids wherein lycopene and p carotene is present in defined amount. More particularly the present invention relates to composition comprising p carotene and lycopene , at lower concentrations wherein the colour impact is minimized. However, this invention may be expected to apply to other carotenoids mixtures as well.
Background and prior art
There are many patent documents like EP1090628, US6630158, US6844020,
US7090879, US7482032, US20010019724, US20020110604, US20020120001,
US20020132800, US20040106687, US20070082044, USRE38009,
WO0230419, WO2003070203 which teach carotenoids and their uses. Special reference is made to US 7482032 wherein the ratio of 200:1 to 1:200 is taught, albeit for different carotenoids. Moreover the composition mentioned in the above prior art is colourless. However, it is important to note that the inventors have used colourless carotenoids in the composition. US 7080879 teaches composition that uses lycopene, carotenoids and lutein. It mentions that the carotenoid blend of the present invention can be formulated at reduced concentrations for better overall color performance, without compromising the antioxidant performance that would otherwise be provided by much higher concentrations of just p-carotene alone.
In Liu et al ("The Scavenging capacity and synergistic effects of lycopene, vitamin E, vitamin C and p-carotene mixtures on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical": LWT41, 1344-1349; 2008) it is demonstrated that the biological activity of lycopene could be increased by presence of other antioxidants like p-carotene. A comparison of the scavenging (antioxidant ) activity of the combinations of antioxidants to the arithmetic sum of the

scavenging activity of the individual antioxidants was used to calculate the synergistic effects between the antioxidants. The results showed that the antioxidant property of the combination of lycopene with other antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, p-carotene was substantially superior to the sum of the individual antioxidants. Liu indicates that there is 50% synergy for a 60 %Lycopene and 40%p carotene composition. Moreover the concentration used in Liu et al is too high.
However none of the prior art teaches a special synergistic effect in any of those composition wherein p-carotene and lycopene is present in ratio of 80:20. In addition, the method employed by some of the cited prior art is the Oxidative (oil) Stability Index which measures the results only at the end of the oxidation process but in present process the oxidation process is stopped in the initiation stage itself by quenching the free radicals.
Brief Description of the Accompanying figures
Figure 1: Graph showing concentration (in micromol /L) dependent quenching of DPPH by Carotene
Figure 2: Graph showing concentration (in micromol /L) dependent quenching of DPPH by lycopene
Figure 3: Graph showing percentage inhibition of DPPH by different compositions of (3 carotene and lycopene mixture.
Figure 4: Graph showing percentage antioxidant synergy by different composition of 3 carotene and lycopene mixture.
Figure 5: Graph showing the comparison of additive values of the percentage radical inhibition of individual (3 carotene and lycopene against the percentage radical inhibition activity of their mixture

Description of the invention
Within the scope of this invention it should generally understood that the concentration and the composition are two different parameters. Concentration is understood by those skilled in the art to mean the amount of mixture (80:20) used in a particular application. Similarly, composition means the ratio between the two carotenoids. Thus, this invention can be substantially diluted during batch preparations, to provide the same efficacy as an undiluted composition so long as the 80:20 ratio is maintained.
The present invention relates to a composition comprising a plurality of carotenoids in the ratio of about 70:30 to about 90:10. .
In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of the carotenoids comprise p carotene and lycopene. In another embodiment, the invention comprises a plurality of carotenoids in the ratio of 80:20. The carotenoids are derived from natural and synthetic sources. The composition has synergistic antioxidant activity and is substantially less coloured.
The present invention is adapted for use in as personal care, food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and feed products. However, it can be used for other applications as well. These applications would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
As stated herein, this invention is operable even at lower concentrations whereby the colour impact from the above mentioned mixture is minimized such that the antioxidant activity is maintained and yet the colour is not compromised. The invention is specifically directed to the composition where the p carotene and lycopene in the ratio of 80:20 and provides a synergistic formulation where lycopene which is expensive is required in amount much less than the p carotene and yet the less coloured composition is achieved without compromising the antioxidant nature.. The synergistic effect is evident from the data presented in Figure 5 where the DPPH quenching effect is surprisingly higher for the mixture of 6 carotene and lycopene than the additive inhibition values obtained from the individual (3 carotene and lycopene. Thus the present invention provides

synergistic antioxidant effect between carotenoids at certain concentration
ranges.
It involves
a) Enhanced antioxidant activity more than 50%
b) Differentiated possible applications include Personal Care, Food,
Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical and Feed Applications.
The composition of the present invention uses reduced amount of expensive Lycopene with inexpensive p Carortene to achieve enhanced antioxidant effect.
As antioxidants are known to quench disease causing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in the biological system and protect cells, the current finding will help in offering multiple health benefits. The composition may be used in new products in the field of personal care, food, Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical and Feed Applications.
The present invention provides composition which is able to achieve less coloured product even though the components are coloured. The antioxidant activity of the composition is high without compromising the colour effect. The colour intensity is substantially reduced and this can be verified by visual examination.
The invention is now described with the help of drawings which are only for illustration of the working of the invention and in no way be regarded as restrictive.
Figure 1 shows that the percentage inhibition brought about by increasing concentration (in μmol/L) of p carotene reaches a plateau around about 4% with about 4μmol/L of β carotene. No more increase in the concentration of β carotene is able to increase the inhibition.

Figure 2 shows that the percentage inhibition brought about by increasing concentration (in μmol/L) of lycopene reaches a plateau around about 9% with about 2μmol/L of lycopene. No more increase in the concentration of lycopene is able to increase the inhibition.
From the above it is evident that both p carotene and lycopene are individually able to act as free radical quencher and bring in antioxidant effect. But the said effect reaches a plateau after which no increase is seen even on increasing the carotenoids Concentration.
Figure 3 teaches that the mixture of p carotene and lycopene shows antioxidant effect and the percentage inhibition is around 6 on the average between the compositions of 40%/60% and 60%/40% (β carotene/lycopene) The compositions 30%/70% and 80%/20% (β carotene / lycopene) show a significantly higher inhibition than the other combinations (P<0.05).
Figure 4 teaches that the composition of present invention with p carotene to lycopene at 80:20 ratio which shows two peaks at around 30%/70% and 80%/20% of the carotenoids. The peak at 80% β carotene and 20% lycopene depicts about 50% synergy
Thus Figure 4 shows a 50% synergy using only 20% lycopene and 80% p carotene. Accordingly the synergy level is achieved yet in a cost effective manner since the expensive lycopene is used only at 20%.
Figure 5 shows the comparison of the additive values of the percentage radical inhibition of individual β carotene and lycopene against the percentage radical inhibition activity of their mixture. It can be seen from Figure 5 that, when the lycopene concentration in the composition is reduced from 90% to 30% the percentage inhibition also reduced. This is due to the fact that the lycopene is the powerful antioxidant than β carotene. However, a further reduction of lycopene concentration (20%) in the composition significantly increased the inhibition

activity. This is due to the synergistic effect of the mixture at this specific compistion.
Accordingly the present invention relates to a composition which is effective as antioxidant and shows high percentage inhibition. Moreover the synergistic activity is also depicted at low percentage of lycopene unlike the known compositions.

We claim
1. A carotenoid composition comprising plurality of carotenoids in the ratio of about 70:30 to about 90:10.
2. The composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of the carotenoids comprise β carotene and lycopene.
3. The composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plurality of carotenoids are in the ratio of 80:20.
4. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carotenoids are derived from natural and synthetic sources.
5. The composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the composition has synergistic antioxidant activity and is substantially less coloured.
6. The composition as claimed in any of claim 1 or claim 2 which is adapted for use in as personal care, food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and feed products.
7. A composition comprising a plurality of carotenoids in the ratio of about 70:30 to about 90:10 substantially as herein described with reference to the figures.

A carotenoid composition comprising plurality of carotenoids in the ratio of about 70:30 to about 90:10. The composition comprises β carotene and lycopene , at lower concentrations wherein the colour impact is minimized.