Determination of the carotenoid profile in peach fruits, juice and jam

Introduction. Carotenoids have been described as possessing several important functional properties and health benefits. These properties make these compounds ideal for the always increasing functional food industry as well as for promoting the consumption of the natural products in which they are contained. Here, we report the first characterisation of the non-saponified carotenoid composition in fresh peach fruits and commercial peach juice and jam. Materials and methods. Fully mature yellow-fleshed peach fruits produced in Sicily were purchased at a local market; they were peeled and the pulp was analysed. Commercial peach juice and commercial peach jam from three different known manufacturers were also purchased at the local market. Both the juice and jam analysed were produced by local manufacturers from the same kind of fresh fruit studied in this work. After carotenoid extraction with organic solvents, the samples were analysed by a direct HPLC-DAD-APCI-MS methodology. Results and discussion. Three free carotenoids (zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin and beta-carotene) and three monoesters of beta-cryptoxanthin were identified and detected in all the samples analysed. Interestingly, the carotenoid profile remained the same in all the samples, and it was not affected by the peach processing occurring during the production of the peach juice and jam. Moreover, small differences were observed in the relative contents of the identified components among the samples investigated.