Resumen

BIANCHINI, Rute  y  PENTEADO, Marilene de Vuono Camargo. CAROTENOIDS OF YELLOW PEPPER (CAPSICUM ANNUUM, L.). CHARACTERIZATION AND VERIFICATION OF CHANGES AFTER COOKING. Ciênc. Tecnol. Aliment. [online]. 1998, vol.18, n.3, pp. 283-288. ISSN 1678-457X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-20611998000300006.

Three cultivars of yellow pepper (Capsicum annuum, L.), "Amador Híbrido F₁", "Zarco Híbrido F₁", "Sunboy Híbrido F₁", grown in the State of Sao Paulo, were analyzed to quantify carotenoids content, to evaluate the provitamin A activity and to assess the loss of such activity after cooking.The analytical procedure consisted of saponification with 10% KOH aqueous, before organic solvent extration and column chromatography separation.The three cultivars presented similar profile of carotenoids among them, nine were identified: phytofluene, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, cis-zeta-carotene, 5,6,5’,6’-diepoxide-beta-carotene, 5,6,5’,6’-diepoxide-cryptoxantin, beta-cryptoxantin, lutein and violaxantin. Alpha and beta-carotenes were the carotenoids which contributed to the provitamin A activity. The amount of vitamin A expressed in retinol equivalents/100g, ranged from 23.17 to 48.70 for fresh samples. As carotenoids are heat sensitive, the vitamin A values were smaller after cooking during 10 minutes, varying between 18.22 and 36.27, what represents a reduction between 21.08 to 30.80%.

Palabras llave : carotenoid; provitamin A; yellow pepper (Capsicum sp); cooking.