# Carotenoids extend life of fruit flies



## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

Interesting study.
https://mipt.ru/en/news/carrot_pigment_found_to_extend_lifespan_of_nematodes

Apparently flies live longer in addition to being healthier for PDF's, when provided higher levels of carotenoids as discussed in this thread.
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/food-feeding/135906-new-scientific-publication-pdfs-carotenoids.html
It would be interesting to see the actual paper.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I've been a fan of it as an additive as I've been adding carotenoids to my media since before 2005. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

are those usual as additives in the "traditional" medias, i.e., Repashy? How would one be able to identify that they are in what they may buy?


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## Drewbacca (Apr 5, 2014)

I always have used my expired (meaning, just over 6 months) Rapashy Superpig in ff cultures. They absolutely love it, as do isos. Just seemed like a waste of a bunch of left over carotenoids. It's great to know that it may help the ff's!

-Drew


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> are those usual as additives in the "traditional" medias, i.e., Repashy? How would one be able to identify that they are in what they may buy?


Hi Judy, 

You need to read the labels and look for key words such as spirulina, chlorella, astaxanthin, Haemoccocus pluvalis. Unfortunately more than one media that is being sold don't tend to list all of the ingredients which make it a little more difficult but a good rule of thumb is if it doesn't contain bright colored particles, or turn the media green or red then its probably lacking in carotenoids. 

As an aside, spirulina is generally much cheaper than chlorella while providing basically the same carotenoids. When I made my own media mix, I was adding about 1-2 tablespoons of spirulina per 4 cups of dry media. At that level it will turn your cultures a dark green. 

As an anecdotal observation I skipped adding astaxanthin to the fruit fly media as adding it instead to the dusting powder made a much bigger difference with the frogs (My cauchero developed tiny red flakes). 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

well...I Googled all those ingredients you mentioned....hell's bells, I think I'LL start taking them....lol I will have to read the labels ...thanks Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Hi Judy,

If you a lot of vegetables, dark leafy greens and seafood you probably are getting sufficient quantities of them already. If you want to up the amount of astaxanthin in your diet, include small whole (with shell) prawns (ground up is fine) in the diet or eat more wild caught salmon. 

To date the best documented carotenoid that really shouldn't be consumed in large quantities by people is canthaxanthin as it is then deposited in the eye in form of crystals (canthaxanthin retinopathy). Fortunately this condition is reversible most of the time but there are the resported cases where it resulted in long-term changes. 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Bustos (Jan 5, 2016)

Hi from Spain.

I use in the fruit flies cultures a mixed of beer yeast, sugar and wheat bran. And tu hydrate these mixture i use a liquefied carrots, red pepper and beet.


After using this mixture for a time, the froglets grow much more healthy and colorful .

a greeting

Rodrigo.

(Sorry for my english)


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Bustos said:


> Hi from Spain.
> I use in the fruit flies cultures a mixed of beer yeast, sugar and wheat bran. And tu hydrate these mixture i use a liquefied carrots, red pepper and beet.
> After using this mixture for a time, the froglets grow much more healthy and colorful .


No need to apologize for your English. Your doing fine. 

Those additives primarily add beta carotene to the the diet of the flies with the following lutein, beta cryptoxanthin as carotenoids. Many people mistake the purple color in beets as a carotenoid but that color is actually a flavenoid which doesn't do anything really for color (maybe if you soak the frog in it for a long-time) but it does add a lot of beta carotene. The problem is that none of these are a source of red carotenoids which is needed for red coloration. The carotenoids the frogs use for reds are astaxanthin and canthaxanthin and these are important in many insects and other arthropods. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Ed..you are a hoot....somehow or another I don't know about:

"include small whole (with shell) prawns (ground up is fine)"

I assume you are referring to shrimp? so maybe the Chinese dried shrimp would do...mmmm, peanut butter and shrimp...I'll have to think about it....lol


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> Ed..you are a hoot....somehow or another I don't know about:
> 
> "include small whole (with shell) prawns (ground up is fine)"
> 
> I assume you are referring to shrimp? so maybe the Chinese dried shrimp would do...mmmm, peanut butter and shrimp...I'll have to think about it....lol


The reason the shrimp and other things like lobsters and crayfish turn red/pink when cooked is because the astaxanthin in the shells is separated from the binding proteins. Hence if the shells are finely broken up then chitinases (enzymes that digest chitin) can begin to work on the shells liberating the carotenoids. In the absence of certain parasites and chitin the diet the body doesn't secrete the chitinases so it will probably take some time for the body to begin the process which should be stimulated by the inclusion of chitin in the diet (as an example see Ann Nutr Metab. 2007;51(3):244-51. Epub 2007 Jun 18. Human gastric juice contains chitinase that can degrade chitin. Paoletti MG(1), Norberto L, Damini R,). 

Those small shrimp have the advantage of being readily available and can be added to a number of foods (such as soups, stir fries etc) and provide a source of astaxanthin. Of course you can also spend the money on straight food grade astaxanthin and make smoothies with it. The uptake of carotenoids requires the ingestion of fat at the same time. This is because the absorption of carotenoids is similar to that of the fat soluble vitamins. The bile acids break down the large fat globules into smaller ones which can pass into the lymphatic system. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

great news!!! A sirloin and shrimp...what could be better than that??


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> great news!!! A sirloin and shrimp...what could be better than that??


Remember only if you eat the shells .... 

Some comments 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

lol.....of course!


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## r.mickaels (May 17, 2015)

Interesting information. Thanks for sharing. 


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