Tomatoes carotene content

Temperature. Temperature during fruit development significantly influenced the carotenoid concentration of tomato produced in a controlled-environment greenhouse (Koskitalo and Ormrod 1972). At diurnal 17.8/25.6°C minimum-maximum temperatures, the (3-carotene concentration was 2.97,2.18, and 2.19 pg/g, respectively, in fruits harvested 7,14, and 21 days following the onset of initial coloration. The corresponding levels for lycopene were 43.5, 57.7, and 64.8 pg/g. At 2.8/13.9°C, (3-carotene content was 3.56, 3.73, and 3.67 pg/g and lycopene content was 9.30, 20.5, and 24.2 pg/g in fruit collected 7, 14, and 21 days following color break, respectively. 

Hot water treatment was reported to delay carotenoid synthesis and thus yellowing of broccoli florets (at 40°C for 60 min) and kale (at 45°C for 30 min), but did not affect Brussels sprouts (Wang 2000). Hot air treatment (38°C and 95% RH for 24 hr) slightly decreased lycopene and (3-carotene content in tomato fruit (Yahia and others 2007) however, fruit heated at 34°C for 24 hr and stored 20°C developed higher lycopene and (3-carotene than nonheated fruit (Soto-Zamora and others 2005). Moist (100% RH) hot air (48.5 or 50°C) for 4 hr caused injury to papaya and losses in lycopene and (3-carotene, but similar treatment with dry air (50% RH), alone or in combination with thiabendazole, had no effect on lycopene and (3-carotene (Perez-Carrillo and Yahia 2004). High-temperature treatment also suppressed 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylic acid oxidase activity and thus indirectly prevented carotenoid synthesis (Suzuki and others 2005). 

Table IV. Effect of DCPTA seed-treatment upon the carotene content of mature tomato fruits...

Johjima T, Matsuzoe N (1995) Relationship between colour value and coloured carotenes content in fruit of various tomato cultivars and breeding lines. Acta Hort 412 152-159... 

Sun L, Yuan B, Zhang M, Wang L, Cui M, Wang Q, Leng P (2012) Fruit-specific RNAi-mediated suppressitm of SUMCEDl increases both lycopene and P-carotene contents in tomato fruit J Exp Bot 63 3097—3108... 

Stommel JR (2001) USDA97L63, 97L66, and 97L97 tomato breeding lines with high fruit P-carotene content. HortScience 36 387-388... 

This approached has been used in the development of the processing tomato cultivar Caro beta (30-40 mg kg p-carotene) from a cross between S. lycopersicum and S. galapagoense [66]. Several indeterminate lines have also been developed with p-carotene contents ranging 60-80 mg kg [67]. One accession of S. lycopersicum (former var. cerasiforme) with orangish fiuits has also shown similar p-carotene contents to Caro beta but with standard lycopene contents [68] and shows an additive genetic control [69]. This accession constitutes an alternative and interesting source of variation yet to be exploited. 

Unfortunately, the cultivars developed with orange fruits and high p-carotene content have not been commercially successful, as consumers seem to prefer red tomato varieties. Consequently, these nongreen wild relatives, specifically the former var. cerasiforme of S. lycopersicum, S. pimpinellifolium, and S. cheesmanii, have been used as sources of variability for high lycopene red-fruited cultivars. 

Stommel J, Haynes K (1994) Inheritance of beta-carotene content in the wild tomato species Lycopersicon cheesmanii. J Hered 85 401-404... 

Georgiev H, Vulkova-Atchkova Z, Vladimirov B, Baralieva D (1981) Breeding determinate tomatoes with higt Beta-carotene content. Grad Lozarska Nauka (Bulg) 18 28-31... 

Ognyanova A, Moynova K (1973) Inheritance of the P-carotene content in red- and orange-fruited tomatoes. Genet Sel 6 3-17... 

Glucose and fructose were identified as major sugar constituents of ripe fruit and represented 78 to 87% of the total soluble solid content within all DCPTA-treatment groups. Sucrose was detected only in trace amounts in all Pixie fruits that were analyzed. Lycopene and beta-carotene were identified as the major pigment constituents of ripe tomato fruit (Table IX). The combined lycopene and beta-carotene contents of ripe fruit were increased about two fold in the 30 and 150 uM DCPTA-treatment groups. 

The carotene content of four strains of tomato (Mackinney and Jenkins, 1952)... 

D. (1973) Vibrational spectra of some carotenoids and related linear polyenes - Raman spectroscopic study. /. Am. Chem. Soc., 95 (14), 4493-4501. Schulz, H., Baranska, M, and Baranski, R. (2005) Potential of NIR-FT-Raman spectroscopy in natural carotenoid analysis. Biopolymers, 77 (4), 212-221. Baranska, M., Schutze, W, and Schulz, H. (2006) Determination of lycopene and /J-carotene content in tomato fruits and related products Comparison of FT-Raman, ATR-IR, and NIR spectroscopy. Anal Chem., 78 (24), 8456-8461. 

With respect to the vegetable sources utilized, Ishida and Chapman determined the major carotenoid contents in several lyophilized vegetable powders, in particular, carrots for the carotene content (particularly P-carotene), white com for lutein, red tomatoes for the high ra j-lycopene isomer content and Tangerine tomatoes for the high tetra-cis-lycopene isomer content. The distinction between the two isomers is important because cfr-lycopene isomers are more hydrophilic than the tranj-isomers. 

ROSATI C, AQUILANI R, DHARMAPURI S, PALLARA P, MARUSIC C, TAVAZZA R, BOUVIER F, CAMARA B and GIULIANO g (2000) Metabolic engineering of beta-carotene and lycopene content in tomato fruit . Plant J, 24, 413-19. 

Lycopene is well known as the predominant carotene in tomatoes, accounting for 65 to 98% of the total colored carotenoid content, depending on the cultivar (Table 4.2.3). The levels of lycopene in fresh tomatoes for salad varied from 21 to 79 g/g 34,35 jjj tomatoes for processing and deep-red tomatoes, the level of lycopene can be as high as 623 More than 80% of the tomatoes produced are... 

Over-expression of bacterial phytoene synthase led to only modest increases in pigment accumulation (except in the case of chloroplast-contaiifing tissues). Attention turned to CrtI, one gene that might control flux through the entire four desaturation steps from phytoene to lycopene (discussed in Section 5.3.2.4). Only a modest increase in carotenoid content in tomatoes and a variety of changes in carotenoid composition including more P-carotene, accompanied by an overall decrease in total carotenoid content (no lycopene increase), resulted when CrtI was over-expressed under control of CaMV 35S. Apparently, the bacterial desaturase... 

Carotenoids from fruits and vegetables can exist as protein-carotenoid complexes (as in the case of green leaf vegetables), crystals (as in carrots or tomatoes), or in oil solution (as in mango and papaya) (West and Castenmiller 1998). Carotenoids commonly found in human blood are lutein, zeaxanthin, (3-cryptoxantliin, lycopene, 13-carotene, and a-carotene. The content of some carotenoids in some fruits and vegetables is shown in Table 7.3. 

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