Stability of carotenoid extracts of gấc (Momordica cochinchinensis) towards cooxidation — Protective effect of lycopene on β-carotene

International audience; Momordica cochinchinensis, so-called gấc in Vietnam, is considered as a fruit with high nutritional potential. Its antioxidant property, due to a high concentration of carotenes (β-carotene and lycopene), is particularly estimated. In this study, we have investigated the degradation of carotene extracts obtained from gấc aril. These extracts were dispersed in the aqueous phase in Tween 80 micelles or were encapsulated into polylactic acid (PLA) particles. In both cases, carotenes were far less degraded than synthetic β-carotene. However, the degradation of lycopene was still rapid (around 1 mM lycopene degraded per hour), whereas β-carotene was almost not bleached. M…