Isolation and determination of total concentration of β-carotene from the juices of some fruits and vegetables

Abstract

The determination of concentration of β-carotene in fruits and vegetables is an essential tool for the recommendation of relevant dietary intake of those fruits and vegetables for Vitamin A. p-carotene, a carotenoid found in nature and a precursor of Vitamin A known in all visual pigments was isolated from the juices of tomato, carrot, red pepper, mango, avocado pear and orange and the concentration in each was determined by the phase separation method using n-hexane as the solvent. The results revealed that red pepper had the highest concentration of β-carotene (77.2µg/2ml of extract) and avocado pear the least (0.9ug/2ml of extract). The other fruits and vegetables had intermediate concentrations of β-carotene. For a person suffering from night-blindness, vegetables and fruits such as red pepper, carrot and mango could be added to the diet for a quicker synthesis of Vitamin A