Astaxanthin derives its vegan and vegetarian status from algae, shrimp.
| Vegan? Maybe | Vegetarian? Maybe |
Classifications are made based on the available commercial supply of the ingredient, and are made based on the criteria on our classifications page.
Commercially available astaxanthin may be vegan depending on the source and may be vegetarian depending on the source.
Astaxanthin is a red pigment produced by algae. The primary sources for industrial production of astaxanthin is krill, algae, and shrimp.
Sources
- Routray, W., Dave, D., Cheema, S. K., Ramakrishnan, V. V., & Pohling, J. (2019). Biorefinery approach and environment-friendly extraction for sustainable production of astaxanthin from marine wastes. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 39(4), 469–488.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2019.1573798