CAROTENOID CONTENT OF THERMALLY PROCESSED TOMATO-BASED FOOD-PRODUCTS

Tomato-based food products such as tomato paste, tomato sauce, and tom ato-based soups are rich in carotenoid compounds and are frequently co nsumed in the United States. Foods such as these, which. are high in c arotenoid content, are of interest because of the demonstrated associa tion between consumption of fruits and vegetables and reduced risk of lung and other epithelial cancers in humans. Limited analytical data o n the carotenoid content of tomato-based products are available in foo d tables and data bases; however, they are usually reported only in te rms of vitamin A activity. In this study name-brand and store-brand to mato-based food products purchased in three major U.S. cities were ext racted and carotenoids were individually identified and quantified by reversed-phase HPLC according to methodology developed in our laborato ry. The carotenoids that were detected and quantified included lycopen e, lycopene-5,6-diol, lutein, alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and zeta-carotene s, neurosporene, phytoene, and phytofluene. As expected, lycopene was the most abundant carotenoid, ranging in concentration from 0.3 mg/100 g in vegetable beef soup to 55 mg/100 g in tomato paste. The concentr ation of beta-carotene ranged from 0.23 mg/100 g in tomato soup to 1.5 1 mg/100 g in vegetable beef soup. Lutein was found at very low concen trations (less than 0.2 mg/100 g) in all products analyzed except toma to paste, which contained 0.34 g/100 g.