Rapid quantification of specific carotenoid pigments in puree of mango and in products derived from thermally processed tomatoes by the Xe-lamp based photoacoustic spectroscopy

In this paper the application of the photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) at visible wavelengths using Xe-lamp is discussed. This technique is used for rapid (without any need for pretreatment of the sample) and accurate assessment of beta carotene and lycopene, in mango purees spiked with beta carotene and in the commercial products derived from the thermally processed tomatoes. The performance of the PAS method was compared to that of tristimulus colorimetry and HPLC and the correlation is quite high. The newly proposed method is good for use in practice and allows practically direct measurements thereby providing substantial saving of the operational costs.