The carotenoid content of the juice obtained from fruits of Cucurbita maxima Duch were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The concentration of carotenoids in the extracted juice is 12.45 µg/ g, the major carotenoid being β-carotene (5.80 µg/g,), followed by lutein (1.52 µg/g). HPLC analysis revealed that the bigger amount of carotenoid in juice is in a free, unesterified form. Sterilization lead to a decrease of the carotenoids’ concentration at 4.18 µg/; after storage for seven months, the final concentration of the total carotenoids was 2.72 µg/g juice. Sterilization destroyed totally the carotenoids lactucaxanthin, α-cryptoxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin and α−carotene, while storage leads to the total degradation of neoxanthin, cucurbitaxanthin A and β-caroten-5, 6-epoxide. The most stable carotenoid proved to be β−carotene.
MENU
