Abstract
The presence of carotenoids in 10 species of the lichens form India was studied. The investigations revealed the presence of the following carotenoids ; α - carotene, β -carotene, β -cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, β -carotene epoxide, lutein epoxide, antheraxanthin, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, canthaxanthin, astaxanthin, mutatoxanthin, flavochrome, capsochrome and β -apo-10'-carotenal.
The total carotenoid content of the material ranged from 15.0 to 31.6 μg g-1 dry weight.'