Rapid and simultaneous determination of lycopene and beta-carotene contents in tomato juice by infrared spectroscopy

J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Feb 25;57(4):1105-12. doi: 10.1021/jf802920z.

Abstract

The rapid quantification of lycopene and beta-carotene in tomato juices by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis was evaluated. Two sample preparation methods were compared: a direct measurement of the tomato paste and an extraction method using hexane to isolate carotenoids. HPLC was used as the reference method. Cross-validated (leave-one-out) partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to create calibration models to predict these phytonutrient concentrations in blind test samples. The infrared spectra showed unique marker bands at 957 and 968 cm(-1) for lycopene and beta-carotene, respectively. Multivariate analysis of the infrared spectral data gave correlation coefficients (r values) of >0.9 between the ATR-IR predicted and HPLC reference values, and standard errors of cross-validation (SECV) of 0.5 and 0.04 mg/100 g of juice for lycopene and beta-carotene, respectively. ATR-IR could provide the tomato industry with a simple, rapid, and high-throughput technique for the determination of tomato quality.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Beverages / analysis*
  • Carotenoids / analysis*
  • Fruit / chemistry*
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Lycopene
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Solanum lycopersicum / chemistry*
  • Spectrophotometry, Infrared / methods*
  • beta Carotene / analysis*

Substances

  • beta Carotene
  • Carotenoids
  • Lycopene