Carotenoid Content of 50 Watermelon Cultivars

Abstract

The lycopene content of 50 commercial cultivars of seeded and seedless red-fleshed watermelons was determined. Scanning colorimetric and spectrophotometric assays of total lycopene were used to separate watermelon cultivars into low (<50 mg/kg fw), average (50-70 mg/kg fw), high (70-90 mg/kg fw), and very high (>90 mg/kg fw). Cultivars varied greatly in lycopene content, ranging from 33 to 100 mg/kg. Most of the seeded hybrid cultivars had average lycopene contents. Sixteen of the 33 seedless types had lycopene contents in the high and very high ranges. All-trans-lycopene was the predominant carotenoid (84-97%) in all watermelon cultivars measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, but the germplasm differed in the relative amounts of cis-lycopene, beta-carotene, and phytofluene. Red-fleshed watermelon genotypes vary extensively in carotenoid content and offer opportunities for developing watermelons with specifically enhanced carotenoids.

Carotenoid composition in oils obtained from palm fruits from the Brazilian Amazon

“…The profile and content of inajá oil described in Table 2 and Figure 3 are completely new, as only the total carotenoid value, around 150 mg·kg −1 found within the dry pulp of fruits has previously been published (Telles, 2006), which are similar to those values obtained in this study (Table 2). The high proportion of lycopene in its oil (33%) is a significant novelty in palms oils with a content of 30 mg·kg −1 that fits with that found in papaya or watermelon (Perkins-Veazie et al, 2006;Souza et al, 2008). Similar values have been quantified for ß-carotene, the carotene that is most present in this oil, followed by γ-carotene and α-carotene.…”

Two weeks of watermelon juice supplementation improves nitric oxide bioavailability but not endurance exercise performance in humans

“…The greater potential for nitric oxide synthesis after watermelon juice supplementation might be linked to a synergistic effect between L-citrulline and other constituents of watermelon juice. For example, watermelon juice is high in the non-enzyme antioxidants, glutathione, lycopene and β-carotene [34][35][36], which can scavenge the superoxide radical [37,51]. This is important given the rapid reaction of superoxide with nitric oxide to form peroxynitrite which compromises nitric oxide bioavailability [52].…”

“…Moreover, watermelon is rich in many antioxidants in addition to glutathione, including lycopene and β-carotene [34][35][36]. Lycopene and β-carotene may increase nitric oxide bioavailability since they have been shown to blunt the scavenging of nitric oxide by superoxide [37].…”

Carotenoids: Actual knowledge on food sources, intakes, stability and bioavailability and their protective role in humans

“…Lenucci et al [40] showed that the content of lycopene and b-carotene varied significantly among 14 cultivars of cherry tomatoes. Likewise, the total carotenoid content ranged from 3700 to 12 200 lg/100 g among 50 cultivars of red-fleshed watermelons from US [45]. Wall [24] studied composition of different cultivars of banana and papaya.…”