A comparison study of five different methods to measure carotenoids in biofortified yellow cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Angélica M Jaramillo; Luis Fernando Londoño; Juan Camilo Orozco; Gelver Patiño; John Belalcazar; Fabrice Davrieux; Elise F Talsma

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209702

A comparison study of five different methods to measure carotenoids in biofortified yellow cassava (Manihot esculenta)

PLoS One. 2018 Dec 28;13(12):e0209702. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209702. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Angélica M Jaramillo¹, Luis Fernando Londoño¹, Juan Camilo Orozco¹, Gelver Patiño¹, John Belalcazar², Fabrice Davrieux³, Elise F Talsma^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ HarvestPlus, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
² Cassava program, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
³ UMR Qualisud, Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), Saint-Pierre, La Réunion, France.
⁴ Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands.

Abstract

The most commonly used method for measuring carotenoid concentration is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Nevertheless, easier, quicker, and less costly proxy methods exist. We aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of several proxy methods: the spectrophotometer, iCheck Carotene, and near-infrared spectroscopy using both a desktop (dNIRS) and a portable (pNIRS) device for the measurement of total carotenoid concentration (TCC) and all-trans-β-carotene concentration (trans-BC) in 30 fresh cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) storage roots in comparison with HPLC. The spectrophotometer presented the highest predictability for TCC, followed by iCheck, dNIRS, and pNIRS. The dNIRS showed the highest predictability and agreement for trans-BC. The pNIRS showed the poorest repeatability and greatest underestimations compared with HPLC. The agreement between all methods was lower for higher carotenoid concentration, with the exception of the spectrophotometer. According to our results, and for screening purposes, the measurement of carotenoids in fresh cassava roots can be carried out by spectrophotometer, iCheck Carotene and NIRS methods depending on the availability of equipment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carotenoids / analysis*
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Food, Fortified / analysis
Manihot / chemistry*
Manihot / classification
Spectrophotometry

Substances

Carotenoids

Grants and funding

This study was supported by HarvestPlus (http://www.harvestplus.org). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.