Introduction. Carotenoids have
been described as possessing several important functional properties
and health benefits. These properties make these compounds ideal
for the always increasing functional food industry as well as for
promoting the consumption of the natural products in which they
are contained. Here, we report the first characterisation of the
non-saponified carotenoid composition in fresh peach fruits and commercial
peach juice and jam. Materials and methods. Fully mature
yellow-fleshed peach fruits produced in Sicily were purchased at
a local market; they were peeled and the pulp was analysed. Commercial
peach juice and commercial peach jam from three different known
manufacturers were also purchased at the local market. Both the
juice and jam analysed were produced by local manufacturers from
the same kind of fresh fruit studied in this work. After carotenoid extraction
with organic solvents, the samples were analysed by a direct HPLC-DAD-APCI-MS
methodology. Results and discussion. Three free carotenoids
(zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin and β-carotene) and three monoesters
of β-cryptoxanthin were identified and detected in all the samples
analysed. Interestingly, the carotenoid profile remained the same in
all the samples, and it was not affected by the peach processing
occurring during the production of the peach juice and jam. Moreover,
small differences were observed in the relative contents of the identified
components among the samples investigated.