Analysis of carotenoids with emphasis on 9-cis ?-carotene in vegetables and fruits commonly consumed in Israel.
Ben-Amotz A., Fishler R.
Author Affiliation: The National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Tel Shikmona, POB 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel.
Food Chemistry 62 : 515-520
Abstract : 17 fruits and 17 vegetables commonly consumed in Israel, and the ?-carotene-rich alga Dunaliella bardawil, were analysed for their content of carotenoids with emphasis on 9-cis-?-carotene by reversed-phase, 3D photodiode array HPLC. 14 carotenoids were eluted in order of decreasing polarity, from polar oxycarotenoids to lipophilic hydrocarbons and quantified in µg carotenoid per g freeze-dried plant sample. The richest sources of total carotenoids (>100 µg/g dry weight) in Israeli fruit were pittangoes, mangoes and papayas [pawpaws]; in vegetables, they were carrots, dill, parsley, tomatoes, lettuces, sweet potatoes and red peppers. Red fruit and vegetables contained mainly lycopene. Yellow and orange fruit and vegetables had high contents of hydrocarbon carotenes with substantial levels of cryptoxanthins and xanthophylls. The green vegetables had high contents of xanthophylls and hydrocarbon carotenes. Reasonably high ratios of 9-cis-?-carotene to all-trans ?-carotene (>0.2 g/g) were noted in sweet potatoes, papayas, parsley, lettuces, dill, apricots, peppers, prunes and pumpkins, while the ?-carotene ratio in the alga Dunaliella was much higher (~1.0 g/g). It is concluded that the high content of 9-cis-?-carotene in certain fruit and vegetables and the wide variety of carotenoids and stereoisomers of carotenoids in all plants should shift nutritional and medical attention from the synthetic all-trans ?-carotene toward natural carotenoids as potential candidates for chemoprevention.