β-Carotene, lutein, and lycopene levels in Vietnamese vegetables and fruits

Abstract

A wide variety of food materials including fruits and vegetables contain carotenoids. Reliable quantitative data on fruit and vegetable carotenoids are essential in agriculture and food processing. Carotenoid content in fruits and vegetables was analysed originally by open column chromatography at atmospheric pressureas well as spectrophotometrically. With the development of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), carotenoid analysis has become rapid, accurate and convenient. Databases on carotenoid composition in fruits and vegetables emerge in large number and are available in many published literatures or online. However, little information is still available regarding data on carotenoid content in fruits and vegetables from Vietnem. In the present study, we analyzed the amount of three common carotenoids, β-carotene, lutein and lycopene, in more than 128 plant samples, such as popular vegetables and fruits, as well as flowers, leaves, stems of some plants in Vietnam.