中文摘要：

类胡萝卜素是重要天然食用色素族群之一，它不仅可为食品添色，还具有较高营养保健价值。类胡萝卜素广泛存在于高等植物、藻类、少数微生物和部分动物体内，但不同生物在合成途径细节及所积累的类胡萝卜素种类方面存在较大的差异。通过优化培养条件、转基因和水解酶辅助提取等生物技术手段提高了类胡萝卜素产量，降低了生产成本，从而使天然类胡萝卜素制品得到更广泛的应用。

英文摘要：

Carotenoids are one of the most important groups of natural food colorants beneficial for human health. Carotenoids exist widely in higher plants, alga, a few microorganisms and some animals, while biosynthetic pathways and compositions of carotenoids accumulated vary greatly. Through optimization of culture conditions, application of genetic transformation and hydrolases-assisted extraction, production of carotenoids was greatly improved and the cost reduced, facilitating the wider consumption of natural carotenoids as healthy food colorants.