______________________________ _______Prayogik Rasayan DOI: 10.53023/p.rasayan-20211221 112 Prayogik Rasayan 2021, 5(4), 112-119 Page nos. not final Isolation and biological activities of naturally occurring apocarotenoid bixin Soumen Patra, Sukhendu Kar, Braja Gopal Bag * Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Vidyasgar University, Midnapore 721102 Email: brajagb@gmail.com __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Received: October 16, 2021 | Accepted: December 21, 2021| Published online: December 28, 2021 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The naturally occurring apo-carotenoid bixin is obtained from annatto (Bixa orellana). It is unique among the natural carotenoids through its water solubility and easily extractability from the seed coat of Bixa orellana. Bixin is (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16Z,18E)-20- methoxy-4,8,13,17-tetramethyl-20-oxicosa 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18- nonaenoic acid, an apo-carotenoid which is a terpenoid compound derived from the oxidative cleavage of carotenoids. Several biological activities of bixin has been reported earlier such as selective antimyeloma effects of cis-bixin, antinociceptive and anti-Inflammatory effects, antioxidant action against cis-platine induced chromosome in rats, hypoglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, allodynia, anxious and depressive-like behaviors, targeting NRF2 for improved skin barrier function and photoprotection, antiatherogenic effect in hypercholesterolemic rabbits, triggering apoptosis of cancer cells, immunomodulatory role in dogs, sensitization of human melanoma cells to dacarbazine-induced apoptosis, sensitization of human lung cancer and cervical cancer cell to cisplatin in vitro, anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, antibacterial activity of cis-bixin conjugated silver nanoparticles, protective effect on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats, bixin/crocetin nanoparticles on quality and shelf life improvement of cheddar cheese etc. In this review, the biological properties of bixin has been discussed. A practical method for the isolation of bixin 1 from the seed coat of Bixa orellana commonly known as “Sinduri” (in Bengali) and its characterization has also been reported. Keywords: Bixa orellana (Sinduri), medicinal plants, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antimyloma 1. Introduction From the plants we can have large quantities of renewable chemicals like polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, fatty acids, xanthanoids, carotenods, alkaloids etc. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 Triterpenoids having multifold isoprene units (C5) are major secondary plant metabolites, bio-synthesized in plants via complex enzymatic pathway from its biosynthetic precursor squalene or oxidosqualene. Bixin is (2E,4E,6E,8E,10E,12E,14E,16Z,18E)-20-methoxy- 4,8,13,17-tetramethyl-20-oxicosa-2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18- nonaenoic acid, an apo-carotenoid which is a terpenoid compound derived from the oxidative cleavage of carotenoids. 18 As the petroleum based chemicals are depleting very fast, scientists are focused on renewable plant based chemicals. Since the last few decades triterpenoids have achieved tremendous research interest in various fields of science due to their nontoxic nature, nanometric lengths, natural availability, amphiphilic character, bio-compatibility etc. Bixin has various medicinal activities such as selective antimyeloma effects of cis-bixin, antinociceptive and anti- inflammatory effects, antioxidant action against cis-platine induced chromosome in rats, hypoglycemic effect in alloxan- induced diabetic rats, allodynia, anxious and depressive-like behaviors, targeting NRF2 for improved skin barrier function and photoprotection, antiatherogenic effect in hypercholesterolemic rabbits, triggering apoptosis of cancer cells, immunomodulatory role in dogs, anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, antibacterial activity of cis-bixin conjugated silver nanoparticles, protective effect on carbon tetrachloride- induced hepatotoxicity in rats, etc. which have been discussed in this article. Isolation procedure of bixin from the seed coat of Bixa orellana fruit and its characterization through 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, DEPT 90, DEPT 135, FTIR and HRMS spectroscopy have also been described. 2. Biological activity of bixin Bixin has been shown to exhibit various biological activities which are shown schematically in Figure 1. Those