Summary
Lycopene is an important biological compound that is widely distributed in fruits and vegetables. Epidemiological study has shown that the dietary intake of lycopene may reduce the risk of certain types of cancers such as prostate cancer. However, the formation ofcis-isomers of lycopene during food processing and storage may decrease its biological activity. Thus, it is important to learn about the content of lycopene and itscis isomers in foods. In this study we compared two types of columns (C18 and C30) and various solvent systems for the separation of lycopene and itscis isomers by HPLC. Results showed that all-trans-lycopene and its ninecis isomers could be resolved by employing a C30 column with a mobile phase of n-butanol-acetonitrile-methylene chloride (30:70:10,v/v/v) and detection at 476 nm within 35 min. A C30 column was found to provide more powerful resolution of lycopene and itscis isomers, but the retention time was drastically increased compared to that of a C18 column. Thecis-isomers of lycopene were tentatively identified as 5-cis, 9-cis, 13-cis, 15-cis-lycopene, and possibly as four lycopene di-cis isomers, based on spectral characteristics and Q ratios as reported in the literature. The method developed in this study could be applied to determine the lycopene content in tomatoes.
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Lee, M.T., Chen, B.H. Separation of lycopene and itscis isomers by liquid chromatography. Chromatographia 54, 613–617 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02492187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02492187