Thermo- and photoisomerization of astaxanthin was investigated in a model system (solutions in methanol and chloroform), and the dynamics of astaxanthin isomers and esters content was analyzed in Haematococcus pluvialis green algal cells exposed to factors inducing astaxanthin accumulation. In both systems, the astaxanthin isomerization process seems to be defined by a) the action of light (or heat), and b) the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium. Upon heating, the accumulation of Z-isomers occurred in a model system during the entire incubation period. For the first 5 h of illumination, both Z-isomers accumulated in the solutions up to 5%, and then their content decreased. The accumulated amount of the Z-isomers in the cells of H. pluvialis was found to reach 42% of the total content of astaxanthin initially, and then it decreased during the experiment. The results lead to a conclusion that both cultivation of H. pluvialis culture in specific conditions and heat treatment of the resulting extracts from it might be efficient for obtaining large amounts of economically useful astaxanthin Z-isomer.

在模型系统（甲醇和氯仿溶液）中研究了虾青素的热异构化和光异构化，并分析了暴露于诱导虾青素积累的因素的雨生红球藻绿藻细胞中虾青素异构体和酯含量的动态。在这两个系统中，虾青素异构化过程似乎是由a）光（或热）的作用和b）周围介质的介电常数定义的。加热后，在整个培养期间，模型系统中发生Z异构体的积累。在光照的前 5 小时内，两种Z异构体在溶液中累积高达 5%，然后其含量下降。发现雨生红球藻细胞内Z异构体的累积量最初达到虾青素总含量的42%，然后在实验过程中逐渐减少。结果得出这样的结论：在特定条件下培养雨生红藻培养物以及对其所得提取物进行热处理可能对于获得大量经济上有用的虾青素Z-异构体是有效的。