Carotenoids in the Context of the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: From Food Matrix and Bioavailability to Biomarkers and Human Health

The Mediterranean Diet pattern is characterized by high intake of plant-based foods rich in bioactive nutrients, including carotenoids. This review examines the major dietary carotenoids and xanthophylls characteristic of the Mediterranean food matrix, focusing on their structural diversity, plant biosynthesis, release from the food matrix, bioavailability, and biological redox-modulating activities. The literature was collected from PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus to trace the pathway of carotenoids from their accumulation in plant tissues to their potential effects on human health. Culinary processing and the concomitant intake of dietary lipids can enhance carotenoid bioaccessibility by promoting isomerization and facilitating the formation of mixed micelles during digestion. In addition to systemic absorption, noninvasive diagnostic tools, including skin carotenoid measurements by reflectance spectroscopy and macular pigment optical density, provide useful biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake. Carotenoids may contribute to systemic antioxidant and redox regulation by quenching singlet oxygen, scavenging free radicals, and modulating redox-sensitive signaling pathways. Overall, their structural diversity, food-matrix interactions, bioaccessibility, and biological activities support continued investigation of carotenoid-rich foods within the Mediterranean dietary pattern and their associations with human health outcomes.