With the aim of providing data on the influence of climate and form of commercialization on carotenoid of vegetables, this study evaluate the content of alpha and beta carotene and vitamin A value of seven vegetables (sweet potato, carrot, squash, green pepper, okra, tomato and green bean) market in Viçosa (MG), Brazil, using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). It was compared vegetables commercialized in two local markets and in the free market during spring, summer and autumn. Carrot presented the highest values of alpha and beta-carotene (31.17 e 58.18 µg/g, respectively), followed by squash (4.33 and 23.16 µg/g, respectively), while sweet potato presented the lowest value of beta carotene (0.51 µg/g). The vitamin A values varied as the profile of alpha and beta-carotene content. The results showed that, except for carrot and okra, there was no significant influence of the market type on the content of carotenoids. The variation of the content of alpha and beta-carotene in the seasons was not important, and only green pepper presented significantly different values. Portions of 100 g of analyzed vegetables supply 3 to 78% of vitamin A recommendation.
beta-carotene; alpha-carotene; vegetables; markets; free markets; seasons
