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. 2018 Dec 28;13(12):e0209702.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209702. eCollection 2018.

A comparison study of five different methods to measure carotenoids in biofortified yellow cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Angélica M Jaramillo  1 , Luis Fernando Londoño  1 , Juan Camilo Orozco  1 , Gelver Patiño  1 , John Belalcazar  2 , Fabrice Davrieux  3 , Elise F Talsma  1   4
Affiliations

A comparison study of five different methods to measure carotenoids in biofortified yellow cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Angélica M Jaramillo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The most commonly used method for measuring carotenoid concentration is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Nevertheless, easier, quicker, and less costly proxy methods exist. We aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of several proxy methods: the spectrophotometer, iCheck Carotene, and near-infrared spectroscopy using both a desktop (dNIRS) and a portable (pNIRS) device for the measurement of total carotenoid concentration (TCC) and all-trans-β-carotene concentration (trans-BC) in 30 fresh cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) storage roots in comparison with HPLC. The spectrophotometer presented the highest predictability for TCC, followed by iCheck, dNIRS, and pNIRS. The dNIRS showed the highest predictability and agreement for trans-BC. The pNIRS showed the poorest repeatability and greatest underestimations compared with HPLC. The agreement between all methods was lower for higher carotenoid concentration, with the exception of the spectrophotometer. According to our results, and for screening purposes, the measurement of carotenoids in fresh cassava roots can be carried out by spectrophotometer, iCheck Carotene and NIRS methods depending on the availability of equipment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. HPLC chromatogram for cassava storage roots (detection at 450 nm).
HPLC conditions are described in the text.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Scatterplots and Bland Altman comparison between TCC measured by HPLC versus spectrophotometer (a-b), iCheck Carotene (c-d), dNIRS (e-f), and pNIRS (g-h).
The black lines indicate linear regression lines and the dotted lines indicate quadratic regression lines. Gray lines represent the line of identity. The square dotted lines represent the bias and the round dotted lines indicate the 95% confidence interval.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Scatterplot and Bland Altman comparison between trans-BC measured by HPLC versus dNIRS (a-b) and pNIRS (c-d).
The black lines indicate linear regression lines and the dotted lines indicate quadratic regression lines. Gray lines represent the line of identity. The square dotted lines represent the bias and the round dotted lines indicate the 95% confidence interval.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Time and price comparison for carotenoid methods.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Scatterplot and Bland Altman comparison between total carotenoid concentration (TCC) in cubes and milled samples for iCheck Carotene.
The black line indicates the linear regression line. The gray line indicates the line of identity. The square dotted line represents the bias and the round dotted lines represents the 95% confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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