ISSN:
1750-3841
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
Notes:
: Lycopene is a red carotenoid with antioxidant properties and potential health benefits. Current methods to assay lycopene content are time-consuming and require organic solvents. This report discusses a rapid and reliable light-absorption method to assay watermelon lycopene content that uses no organic solvents. Light absorption of 152 watermelon flesh purees was measured with a xenon flash colorimeter/spectrophotometer that can measure actual light absorption from opaque samples; results were compared with a hexane extraction method. The puree absorbance method gave a precise linear relationship (R2= 0.98) to lycopene content and was independent of lycopene concentrations or watermelon variety within the lycopene concentration measured (24 mg/g to 88 mg/g fresh weight).
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2003.tb14160.x
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