Separation of carotenol fatty acid esters by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Employing isocratic and gradient-elution high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) a number of straight-chain fatty acid esters (decanoate, laurate, myristate, palmitate) of violaxanthin, auroxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, isozeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin, prepared by partial synthesis, have been separated on a C18 reversed-phase column. Several chromatographic conditions were developed that separated a mixture of di-fatty acid esters (dimyristate, myristate palmitate mixed ester, dipalmitate) of violaxanthin, auroxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin in a single chromatographic run. Hydroxycarotenoids such as lutein, zeaxanthin, and isozeaxanthin that are not easily separated by HPLC on C18 reversed-phase columns, can be readily separated after derivatization with fatty acids and chromatography of their esters. Chromatographic conditions for optimum separation of carotenoids from various classes are discussed.