The composition and concentration of the antioxidant
solutions are shown in Table 1. Stock solutions of lycopene
(0.03 mmol/L) and b-carotene (0.13 mmol/L) were prepared
in hexane and stored at 30 1C in hermetically sealed
amber glass bottles. All other stock solutions were
prepared in ethanol. The extinction coefficients used
to calculate the concentrations of b-carotene and
lycopene were 134.4 (cm1 (mmol/L)1) at 454nm and
185.0 (cm1 (mmol/L)1) at 474 nm, respectively (Miller,
Sampson, Candeias, & Bramley, 1996). All procedures
were performed under dim light and all stock solutions
were stirred at room temperature for 10 min before
further use.