Author(s): CARVALHO, L. M. J. DE; CARVALHO, J. L. V. de; BORGES, R. M. E.; KASER, I. M.; LIMA, V. G.; SOUSA, D. S. F. DE

Summary: Nowadays, the vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is still a public health concern, being one of the most important components of the high rate of morbidity and mortality among children in developing countries. There is a high prevalence of night blindness caused by deficiency of vitamin A. Children and pregnant women are particularly affected. Many pumpkins (C. moschata) genotypes present a great variability of carotenoid content mainly the beta-carotene. The objective of this work is to evaluate the variability of beta-carotene among pumpkins genotypes. Twenty biofortified pumpkins cultivated at Embrapa Table Coast land and Semiarid were evaluated regarding beta-carotene contents. The analyses were carried out by High rformance Liquid Chromatography. The pumkinks showed a large variability in the contents of total carotenoids varying, in fresh pumpkins from 699.06 (genotype 25) to 124.60 μg/g (genotype 26), from 106.96 (genotype 26) to 655.54 μg/g (genotype 25) in samples cooked in boiling water and 117.55 (genotype 19) and 650.54 μg/g (genotype 25) in steamed cooked, respectively.

Publication year: 2015

Types of publication: Journal article

Unit: Embrapa Semi-arid Region

Keywords: Abóbora, Beta-caroteno, C moschata, Carotenóides, Genótipo, Pumpkins, Saúde Pública, Vitamina A