Marigold, an annual herb. Summer and autumn flowers, yellow or orange flowers, easy to grow. Flowering is long, generally picked in summer and autumn. Originally from Mexico, is now widely planted around the world, China's north and south are cultivated, resources are extremely rich. At present, the international demand for marigold is increasing, marigold extract lutein, lutein ester, zeaxanthin are also used as natural pigment and eye care products raw materials.

Marigold leaves can enter medicine, have qingrehua phlegm, tonifying the effect of menstruation. The active components in marigold chrysanthemum have sedation, antihypertensive, bronchial dilation, spasmolysis and other functions, and the volatile oil has antibacterial, antibacterial, anti-melancholy and insecticidal activities. Lutein is a kind of antioxidant with excellent performance, which can prevent cancer and prevent a series of diseases caused by organ aging. It can prevent and treat blindness caused by macular degeneration, prevent and cure cardiovascular sclerosis, coronary heart disease and tumor diseases caused by body aging, and has the advantages of strong stability, non-toxicity and high safety. It is widely used in food, medicine, poultry feed, tobacco and cosmetics, and has a very broad development prospect.

Oxygen free radicals in human body are an important cause of many age-related diseases. Lutein has unique effects on preventing free radical damage to biofilm, quenching singlet oxygen and capturing oxygen free radical.

Lutein, with its high activity and electron-rich long polyene carbon chain, protects human body from the damage caused by singlet oxygen and free radicals, and its quenching rate constant of oxygen is 109m-1s-L. In vitro studies have shown that lutein is more effective than β -carotene in inhibiting cell membrane lipid autooxidation and oxidation-induced cell damage.

Lutein is one of the main carotenoids in human blood, which has special biological functions in inhibiting tumor growth. Lutein was found to be more effective than β -carotene in inhibiting cell membrane lipid autooxidation and oxidation-induced cell damage. Lutein can inhibit the growth of metastatic breast tumors and promote lymphocyte growth in mice. Some researchers believe that β -carotene and keratoflavin can inhibit the induction and formation of hamster buccal pocket cell carcinoma, and zeaxanthin and lutein have a strong inhibitory effect on virus-induced tumor.

Lutein repairs damage caused by UV exposure, and studies have shown that carotenoid alcohols are found in the skin, which may be formed after the body absorbs lutein. It was found that 52% of the erythema cell layer could be reduced when lutein was applied to the skin irradiated by ultraviolet light, providing a possibility for its application in cosmetics. In addition, marigold also has a certain effect on the treatment of plantar skin keratosis.

Marigold, as the main raw material for extracting natural lutein, has broad market prospect. However, this plant is not native to China, so it is urgent to cultivate marigold varieties rich in lutein, diverse in color and flower type, suitable for local climate and with independent intellectual property rights. At the same time, marigold has bacteriostatic, insecticidal and acaricidal effects, but the effective components of bacteriostatic, insecticidal and acaricidal effects have not been fully determined, and further research is still needed.