Total carotenoid and beta-carotene contents of forest green leafy vegetables consumed by tribals of south India

Seventy edible wild forest green leafy vegetables (GLV) collected andconsumed by tribals of Andhra Pradesh, India were analyzed for totalcarotenoids (TC) and beta carotene (BC) contents using high performanceliquid chromatography (HPLC). The vitamin A activity expressed as retinolequivalents (RE) was calculated based on in vivo conversion factorgiven by WHO. The results of the study indicated that thirty-six GLV werefound to have high vitamin A activity (0.87 to 2.34 RE) with TC and BCcontents ranging from 12.22 to 36.13 and 5.21 to 14.05 mg %,respectively; thirty GLV had moderate vitamin A activity (0.36–0.8 RE)with TC and BC contents ranging from 10.60 to 31.33 and 2.19 to 4.78 mg %.Four GLV contained low vitamin A activity (0.07–0.32 RE); – TC and BCcontents ranging from 5.12 to 13.13 and 0.40 to 1.94, respectively. Thepercent beta carotene in total carotenoids among the three groups of theGLV varied from 19.41 to 73.02, 11.11 to 46.21 and 5.98 to 37.11,respectively.