Since synthetic pigments are potentially harmful to human health, natural ones such as bixin, one of the carotenoids, are favored. As the second widely used natural pigment in the world, there is significant interest in the biosynthetic pathway of bixin which has not been fully elucidated. This review summarizes the chemical properties, extraction methods, biosynthetic pathway and application of bixin. In addition, we compared the difference between traditional extraction methods and new extraction techniques. Moreover, we described the genes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of bixin and the effects of abiotic stress on the biosynthesis of bixin, and discussed the application of bixin in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. However, the researches on bixin biosynthesis pathway are mostly carried out at the transcriptome level and most of the gene functions have not been elucidated. Therefore, we propose to characterize the entire bixin biosynthetic pathway using techniques of genomics, bioinformatics, and phytochemistry. This will help facilitate the synthetic biology research of bixin and development of bixin into new drugs.
由于合成色素对人类健康具有潜在危害，天然色素逐渐受到青睐。胭脂素作为类胡萝卜素物质是世界第二大天然色素，其生物合成途径是国际研究热点，目前尚未被完整解析。文中综述了胭脂素的化学特性与提取方法、合成途径研究及应用现状，比较传统提取方法与新提取技术的特点，阐述胭脂素合成通路相关基因及非生物胁迫对合成通路的影响，介绍胭脂素在食品、医药、化工产业应用现状。由于胭脂素合成通路的研究多停留在转录组水平，大多数基因功能未进行验证，文中提出综合应用基因组学、生物信息学、植物化学等学科技术进行深入研究以解析完整的胭脂素合成途径，为胭脂素合成生物学研究及新药研发奠定基础，促进胭脂素的资源开发及可持续发展。.
Keywords: biosynthesis pathway; bixin; carotenoid; genomics; natural pigment.