| Abstract
| - The lycopene content of 50 commercial cultivars of seeded and seedless red-fleshed watermelonswas determined. Scanning colorimetric and spectrophotometric assays of total lycopene were usedto separate watermelon cultivars into low (<50 mg/kg fw), average (50−70 mg/kg fw), high (70−90mg/kg fw), and very high (>90 mg/kg fw). Cultivars varied greatly in lycopene content, ranging from33 to 100 mg/kg. Most of the seeded hybrid cultivars had average lycopene contents. Sixteen of the33 seedless types had lycopene contents in the high and very high ranges. All-trans-lycopene wasthe predominant carotenoid (84−97%) in all watermelon cultivars measured by high-performanceliquid chromatography, but the germplasm differed in the relative amounts of cis-lycopene, β-carotene,and phytofluene. Red-fleshed watermelon genotypes vary extensively in carotenoid content and offeropportunities for developing watermelons with specifically enhanced carotenoids. Keywords: Lycopene; free radical scavenger; antioxidant; Citrullus lanatus
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