Carotenoid profile and retinol content of baby food products

The contents of provitamin A carotenoids, non-provitamin A carotenoids and retinol were investigated in two types of 65 commercially available baby fo od products by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The co ntent of beta-carotene in vegetable products for babies from 5 months was 5 7% of the total amount of carotenoids (7.83 mg/100 g); the contents of othe r carotenoids were lycopene 19%, alpha-carotene 18%, lutein 4%, cryptoxanth in 1% and zeaxanthin 1%. All together, the content of provitamin A caroteno ids was 76% and that of non-provitamin A carotenoids was 24%. A similar car otenoid profile was found in vegetable products for babies from 8 months an d from 12 months, although the total carotenoid content was lower (3.07 mg/ 100 g). In fruit and cereal products the contents of beta-carotene and lyco pene were 36% and 39% of the total amount of carotenoids (0.44 mg/ 100 g). The contents of alpha-carotene, lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin ranged from 3% to 9% of the total carotenoids. The contents of provitamin A and n on-provitamin A carotenoids were equal for this group (both 50% of all caro tenoids). The calculated average content of retinol equivalents (mg RE/100 g) was between 0.33 and 0.88 for the vegetable products and 0.03 for the fr uit and cereal products.