The edible mushroom Cantharellus cinnabarinus contains a complicated mixture of carotenoid pigments. The major component was isolated in crystalline form and named canthaxanthin. The only minor pigment identified with certainty was beta-carotene; three others have been characterized as to absorption spectra and partition behavior. A fluorescent substance, probably phytofluene, is present in the pigment extracts.
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F. T. Haxo (1950) studied this question.