Carotene content of some common and less familiar foods of plant origin.
Bhaskarachary K., Rao D. S. S., Deosthale Y. G., Vinodini Reddy
Author Affiliation: National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad 500?007, India.
Food Chemistry 54 : 189-193
Abstract : A number of commonly consumed plant foods (green leafy vegetables, roots, tubers and fruits) were analysed for carotenes spectrophotometrically and by separation of provitamin A carotenoids on HPLC. ?-Carotene was the predominant carotenoid in all foods. Green leafy vegetables and yellow fruits such as mangoes and pawpaws were the best source of provitamin A. Carrots contained significant amounts of ?-carotene while in pawpaws ?-cryptoxanthin was the predominant carotenoid. A few lesser-known green leafy vegetables were also analysed. Among them, chennangiaku (Cassia sp.) and botla benda (Abutilon indicum) appeared to be good sources of ?-carotene. Consumption of these vegetables and fruits should help overcome problems of vitamin A deficiency.