Abstract:

Tocotrienol and tocopherol collectively referred to as vitamin E， are important fat?soluble vitamins. Vitamin E can only be synthesized by plants or photosynthetic bacteria. It is essential for human and animal nutrition and can only be ingested from outside. For a long time， due to its lower bioactivity and limited distribution than tocopherol， few research has been done on tocotrienol. Recent studies have found that due to the similar structure of tocotrienol and tocopherol， tocotrienol has the same antioxidant as tocopherol. While due to the unsaturated side chain， tocotrienol also has some functions different from tocopherol， such as protecting nerves from damage， lowering cholesterol and protecting brain cells from damage. Therefore， the research of tocotrienol has gradually become a hot spot. According to the biosynthetic pathway of vitamin E， people have also begun the study of tocotrienol biofortification， overexpression of the first key enzyme gene HGGT is the most effective way to improve the content of tocotrienol. In the future， it is necessary to combine the molecular mechanism of its synthesis and regulation and its absorption and utilization to develop functional products targeting at tocotrienol. In this paper， the synthetic pathway， biological function and biofortification of tocotrienol were reviewed， and the research focus in the future was prospected.

Key words: tocotrienol, biosynthetic pathway, biological function, biofortification

摘要：

三烯生育酚和生育酚统称为维生素E，是重要的脂溶性维生素。维生素E只能在植物或者光合细菌中合成，是人类和动物必需且只能通过食物等摄取的重要维生素。一直以来，由于三烯生育酚与生育酚相比，生物活性较低且分布范围较小，人们对其研究相对较少。近些年的研究发现，由于三烯生育酚和生育酚的结构相似，因此三烯生育酚具有与生育酚相同的抗氧化等功能；但又由于三烯生育酚含有不饱和的植基侧链，使得三烯生育酚还具有一些不同于生育酚的功能，比如保护神经免受损伤、降低胆固醇、保护脑细胞免受损伤等。因此，三烯生育酚逐渐成为了研究热点。根据维生素E的生物合成途径，人们也开始了对三烯生育酚的生物强化研究，其合成途径中第一个关键酶基因HGGT的过表达是目前三烯生育酚含量提高的最有效途径；将来还需结合其合成调控的分子机制及其吸收利用问题，开发针对三烯生育酚的功能型产品。从三烯生育酚的合成途径、生物学功能、生物强化等方面进行了综述，并对今后的研究重点提出了展望。

关键词: 三烯生育酚, 合成途径, 生物学功能, 生物强化