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Carotenoids in cassava: Comparison of open‐column and HPLC methods of analysis
Author(s) -
Adewusi Steve R A,
Bradbury J Howard
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740620411
Subject(s) - carotenoid , lutein , high performance liquid chromatography , reagent , carotene , chromatography , column chromatography , vitamin , cultivar , chemistry , food science , zeaxanthin , lycopene , biology , botany , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Cassava leaves and tubers from six cultivars were analysed for carotenoids by both open‐column chromatography and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The major carotenoids of leaves were the non‐vitamin A carotenoid lutein (86‐290 mg kg −1 fresh weight (FW)) and the pro‐vitamin A carotenoid β‐carotene (13‐78 mg kg −1 FW). Immature leaves contained less than mature leaves. Tubers contained 0.1‐3 mg kg −1 FW of β‐carotene and 0.05‐0.6 mg kg −1 FW of lutein. Carotenoids present in small amounts included α‐, γ‐, and §‐carotenes and β‐cryptoxanthin and others were separated and partially identified. Yellow tubers contain much more β‐carotene than white tubers and cassava is a good source of pro‐vitamin A carotenoids compared with other root crops. Both methods gave similar results for β‐carotene and lutein, but the open‐column method did not allow separation and quantitation of carotenoids present in small amounts. HPLC separated many carotenoids, but most peaks could not be identified for lack of reference compounds. A great advantage of open‐column chromatography for developing countries is its use of simple equipment and readily available reagents and solvents compared with HPLC, which requires complex equipment needing careful maintenance and expensive solvents. The open‐column method is more labour intensive but this is not a constraint in developing countries.