CAROTENOID CONTENT DURING TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM L.) FRUIT RIPENING IN TRADITIONAL AND HIGH-PIGMENT CULTIVARS

The amounts of lycopene, b-carotene and lutein were monitored in tomato fruit of traditional and high-pigment cultivars (cvs) collected at the green, green-orange, orange-red and red stages of ripening. All data are expressed as mg/kg fresh weight (f.w.) of tomato fruit homogenates. Each homogenate was centrifuged at 27,000 g and the pellets obtained, constituted of tomato cells, were lyophilised and ground to obtain a variety of homogeneous powders. The content of carotenoids in the powders, prepared at the different ripening stages, was measured and expressed as mg/kg freeze-dried matter (f-d.m.). At the green stage, the f-d.m. of each cv was rich in b-carotene and lutein (>95% as compared to the total carotenoid content). At the red stage, the f-d.m. was composed of more than 96.2% lycopene in each cv. However, there was twice as much lycopene in the high-pigment cvs compared to the traditional ones. The data confirm dramatic changes in carotenoid content during tomato fruit ripening and show that it could be possible to prepare tomato matrices with defined carotenoid mixes that could be extracted with supercritical CO2.