HIGH PRESSURE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHIC FRACTIONATION AND DETERMINATION OF CAROTENOIDS AND CHLOROPHYLLS IN MANDARIN ESSENTIAL OILS

A rapid and simple high pressure liquid chromatographic method for fractionation and determination of carotenoids and chlorophylls in three typologies of mandarin essential oil: yellow, red and green, industrially produced in Sicily and in Calabria (Italy), in the season 2007-2008, is reported. The analysis doesn't require pre-extraction of the pigments from the essential oil and it is effected by injecting directly into the chromatograph the samples, previously filtered on a nylon filter 0.45 μm. Under the used analytical conditions the components of a standard mixture of lycopene, α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b are completely separated. Riassunto