The pumpkin puree, obtained through commercial sterilisation of pumpkin pulp, is a product with added value and convenience since it can be easily incorporated into preparations, such as breads, pasta and sweets. Moreover, technology for its production is accessible to small and medium-size agro industries. However, since carotenoids are unstable at high temperatures, studies regarding the consequences of processing (cooking and commercial sterilisation) and storage in the composition of carotenoids in pumpkin puree are important. Considering what has been mentioned above, the objectives of this study were: (1) evaluate

the carotenoid composition in raw C. moschata pumpkins of the variety ‘Menina Brasileira’ and C. maxima pumpkins of the variety ‘Exposição’, both of which are widely cultivated in southern Brazil; (2) investigate the consequences of pumpkin puree processing in the composition this website of

carotenoids; (3) monitor changes that may occur in the concentrations of the major carotenoids in the Selleckchem Erastin pumpkin purees during 180 days of storage. Approximately 80 kg of each pumpkin species – C. moschata ‘Menina Brasileira’ and C. maxima ‘Exposição’ – were harvested in different rural units in the municipal districts of Curitibanos (27°16′58′′ South, 50°35′04′′ West, 987 m altitude) and São Cristóvão do Sul (27°16′00′′ South, 50°26′26′′ West, 1025 m altitude) (Santa Catarina, Brazil) in 2010 (February–March) and transported to the laboratory in Florianopolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil), where the samples were processed and analysed. As described by Azevedo-Meleiro and Rodriguez-Amaya (2007), the species C.

moschata ‘Menina Brasileira’ has a cream or light orange colour on the PRKACG outside with large dark green longitudinal stripes, a smooth surface, and orange pulp. Its anatomy can be divided into two parts: a slightly curved cylindrical section and an enlarged bulb-like section at the blossom end. The pumpkins analysed were approximately 45–65 cm long, 15–25 cm transverse diameter in the cylindrical section and 25–35 cm transverse diameter in the bulb-like section, weighing between 5.0 and 10.0 kg. The C. maxima ‘Exposição’ pumpkins have orange coloured outside and pulp, and a smooth surface with prominent ribbing. They have the shape of slightly flattened spheres at both the stem and the blossom ends, weighing from 2.0 to 5.0 kg. Three batches of purees were produced for each of these two pumpkin species. All analyses were performed in triplicate, with a sample unit from each batch. Acetone, ethyl acetate, acetonitrile, methanol and triethylamine of HPLC grade, purchased from Sigma–Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany, were used in the steps where high performance liquid chromatography was used. The fruits were washed with potable water; the parts that had phytopatologies were removed.