Determination of β-carotene in varieties of Malaysian mango by thin layer chromatography / Anith Athirah Mahabib

β–carotene is a precursor to Vitamin A that commonly found in orange pigmented fruits and vegetables. β–carotene is an important natural product to maintain a healthy body as it is useful for reducing chances to get diseases such as cancer and heart disease due to its various positive effects. Mango is characterized by a significantly high content in β–carotene. It also can be directly consumed without being cooked. This study was designed with the objective of determining β–carotene content of three types of Malaysian mango are Maha 65 (MA165), Mas Muda (MA204) and Golek (MA162). Thin Layer Chromatography was used for the purification of β–carotene, while UV/Visible spectrophotometry was used for the analysis of β–carotene content in these varieties of mango. Therefore, from the results it can be concluded that Maha 65 (MA165) has the lowest β–carotene content which is 33.963μg/g. In contrast, Mas Muda (MA204) was found to have the highest β–carotene content which is 80.953μg/g. As for the Thin Layer Chromatography, one spot from each sample had been observed that represent different types of compound separated due to their different in Rf value. The results obtained from this research can be used to compare β–carotene content in varities of Malaysian mango.