Provitamin A activity of specialty fruit marketed in the United States.
1990
Homnava A. | Rogers W. | Eitenmiller R.R.
The provitamin A content (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin) was determined in 33 different specialty fruits that are primarily of tropical origin and common to the U.S. market. After saponification, carotenoids were extracted with hexane and quantitated by reverse-phase HPLC using a Zorbax ODS column and an isocratic solvent system of acetonitrile, methylene chloride + 0.001% triethylamine, and methanol (350:150:1). Recoveries, determined by standard addition before saponification, were in the range of 70-100% for the three carotenoids. Proximate analysis was also conducted. Variation in carotenoid content was noted at different sampling times and for different cultivars of some of the specialty fruit. Provitamin A activity reported as retinol equivalents varied from nondetectable levels in fruit such as atemoya to relatively high levels in tamarillo (208 +/- 63 RE/100 g) and purple passion fruit (196 +/- 13 RE/100 g). Since the fruits included in the study represent an expanding market, they could provide significant levels of vitamin A activity to U.S. consumers. This study provides information necessary to judge their contribution of vitamin A activity to the U.S. diet.
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