Rodriguez-Amaya D B
Departamento de Ciência de Alimentos, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP, Brasil.
Arch Latinoam Nutr. 1999 Sep;49(3 Suppl 1):74S-84S.
Latin America has a wide variety of carotenogenic foods, notable for the diversity and high levels of carotenoids. A part of this natural wealth has been analyzed. Carrot, red palm oil and some cultivars of squash and pumpkin are sources of both beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. beta-carotene is the principal carotenoid of the palm fruits burití, tucumã and bocaiuva, other fruits such as loquat, marolo and West Indian cherry, and sweet potato. Buriti also has high amounts of alpha-carotene and gamma-carotene. beta-Cryptoxanthin is the major carotenoid in caja, nectarine, orange-fleshed papaya, orange, peach, tangerine and the tree tomato. Lycopene predominates in tomato, red-fleshed papaya, guava, pitanga and watermelon. Pitanga also has substantial amounts of beta-cryptoxanthin, gamma-carotene and rubixanthin. Zeaxanthin, principal carotenoid of corn, is also predominant only in piquí. delta-Carotene is the main carotenoid of the peach palm and zeta-carotene of passion fruit. Lutein and beta-carotene, in high concentrations, are encountered in the numerous leafy vegetables of the region, as well as in other green vegetables and in some varieties of squash and pumpkin. Violaxanthin is the principal carotenoid of mango and mamey and is also found in appreciable amounts in green vegetables. Quantitative, in some cases also qualitative, differences exist among cultivars of the same food. Generally, carotenoids are in greater concentrations in the peel than in the pulp, increase considerably during ripening and are in higher levels in foods produced in hot places. Other Latin America indigenous carotenogenic foods must be investigated before they are supplanted by introduced crops, which are often poorer sources of carotenoids.
拉丁美洲有各种各样的产类胡萝卜素食物，以类胡萝卜素的多样性和高含量而闻名。人们已经对这一自然财富的一部分进行了分析。胡萝卜、红棕榈油以及一些南瓜和西葫芦品种是β-胡萝卜素和α-胡萝卜素的来源。β-胡萝卜素是棕榈果布里蒂、图库马和博凯乌瓦、其他水果如枇杷、马罗洛和西印度樱桃以及红薯中的主要类胡萝卜素。布里蒂还含有大量的α-胡萝卜素和γ-胡萝卜素。β-隐黄质是卡哈、油桃、橙色果肉番木瓜、橙子、桃子、橘子和树番茄中的主要类胡萝卜素。番茄红素在番茄、红肉番木瓜、番石榴、碧冬茄和西瓜中占主导地位。碧冬茄还含有大量的β-隐黄质、γ-胡萝卜素和玉红黄质。玉米的主要类胡萝卜素玉米黄质也仅在皮基中占主导地位。δ-胡萝卜素是桃棕的主要类胡萝卜素，而ζ-胡萝卜素是西番莲的主要类胡萝卜素。叶黄素和β-胡萝卜素在该地区的众多叶菜类蔬菜中含量很高，在其他绿色蔬菜以及一些南瓜和西葫芦品种中也有较高含量。紫黄质是芒果和马米果中的主要类胡萝卜素，在绿色蔬菜中也有相当含量。同一食物的不同品种之间存在数量上的差异，在某些情况下也存在质量上的差异。一般来说，类胡萝卜素在果皮中的浓度高于果肉，在成熟过程中会大幅增加，并且在炎热地区生产的食物中含量更高。在其他拉丁美洲本土产类胡萝卜素食物被引入作物取代之前，必须对其进行研究，因为引入作物往往是类胡萝卜素含量较低的来源。
