Composition and Content of Carotenoids of Gastropod Tritia reticulata in the Black Sea

Abstract—The results of a 2-year study of the composition and content of carotenoids of sea snails Tritia reticulata (L., 1758) living in a mixed bottom community of bivalve mollusks in the sandy zone of the upper sublittoral (depth 0–1 m) of Cossack Bay in Sevastopol are presented. The highest content of total carotenoids are detected in June (1.8–2.09 mg/100 g of wet weight); the average for both years is 1.54 mg/100 g of wet weight. In the qualitative composition of T. reticulata taken from the pastures of bivalves on sandy–silt soil, 15 free carotenoids are identified: β-carotene, echinenone, hydroxyechinenone, astaxanthin, didehydroastaxanthin, diadinoxanthin, diatoxanthin, fucoxanthin, halocynthiaxanthin, fucoxanthinol, mactraxanthin, heteroxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, alloxanthin, and esters of the last four carotenoids. The possibility of metabolic transformations of carotenoids is discussed.