Extraction and Analysis of the Major Carotenoids of AgroIndustrial Waste Materials Using Sequential Extraction Techniques and High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to develop sequential extraction procedures for
the major carotenoids – beta-carotene and lycopene from agro-industrial waste
materials – tomato skin, tangerine and orange peels using the ultrasound-assisted
extraction and the supercritical fluid extraction techniques. A rapid, effective and
selective high performance liquid chromatographic method for quantitative
determination of beta-carotene and lycopene in organic extracts solutions was
developed and validated with respect to robustness, specificity, linearity-range,
accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) as well. The effect
of the operating pressure, the temperature, the extraction time, the flow rate of
supercritical fluid, the sample size, the ultrasound power and the solvent nature used
was investigated. The optimal conditions for extraction were found. The LOD and the
LOQ are 0.0081µg/mL and 0.00405 µg/mL for beta-carotene, 0.034 µg/mL and 0.0085
µg/mL for lycopene, respectively. No interference was observed. The content of betacarotene per 1 g of dried agro-industrial waste material varies 8.39 – 12.75 µg (tomato
skin), 25.65 – 32.18 µg (tangerine peel), 41.66 – 59.16 µg (orange peel) and the content
of lycopene – 165.11 – 179.56 µg (tomato skin), 11.12 – 17.91 µg (tangerine peel), 8.37
– 10.65 µg (orange peel).