Thermal Degradation of Beta-Carotene

Abstract

To clarify the role of β-carotene in the aroma formation of roasted green tea, β-carotene was heated in the pyrolizer at 180ºC for 6 minutes under the atomosphere of air with or without catechin gallates which separated from tea leaves, and the volatile products were trapped in the precolumn cooled by dryice-acetone. Then the precolumn was connected with GLC capillary column and analysed by GC-MS. Ten volatile compounds were produced under this condition, and toluene, xylene, ionene, β-ionone and dihydroactinidiolide were identified by comparison of gas chromatographic retention times and MS patterns with those of the authentic samples. Among the five compounds, dihydroactinidiolide was newly identified as a thermal degradation product of β-carotene. Unexpectedly, when catechin gallates were added to β-carotene, each quantity of above ten products was considerably reduced. © 1973, Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. All rights reserved.