arotenoids undergo degradation when they behave as antioxidants, as they prevent the oxidation of lipids, by making themselves available for reactions with radicals instead of lipids. In some cases, as reported by Chen and Djuric (2001), carotenoids in liposomes may be destroyed by the free radicals and are not effective in preventing lipid peroxidation. However, in the present study it was observed that in fraction F3 which showed higher antioxidant activity, even after 24 h, only 48% carotenoids were lost compared to almost 80% loss of carotenoids in fraction F2 (Fig. 2). This indicates that in addition to carotenoids, other components are also involved in inhibition of thermal oxidation of carotenoids.