Determination of β–Carotene & Vitamin C content of Fresh Green Pepper (Capsicum annnum), Fresh Red Pepper (Capsicum annum) and Fresh Tomatoes (Solanumly copersicum) Fruits
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Abstract
The interest in the consumption of different varieties of pepper fruits, (Capsicum annuum) and also tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum) is to a large extent, due to their content of bioactive nutrients and their importance as dietary antioxidants. A laboratory experiment was carried out to determine the β– carotene and vitamin C content of green pepper fruit, red pepper fruit and tomato fruit. The β–carotene content of the methanolic extract of the three samples was determined spectrophotometrically. Vitamin C content of the fruits was measured as ascorbic acid by titrating the aqueous mixtures of the samples. The result showed that tomato has the highest β–carotene content (896μg/100ml of extract) and the lowest vitamin C content (54.12mg/100g) while red pepper has the highest vitamin C content (126.05mg/100g) and considerable high amount of β–carotene (592μg/100ml of extract). Green pepper on the other hand, has a considerable high amount of vitamin C (116.08mg/100g) and β–carotene content of 368μg/100ml of extract). From the nutritional point of view, the data in this report will serve as a useful guide to dieticians in the selection of plants which are rich in these antioxidants.
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