To prepare the carotenoids extracts 2.5 g of peach pieces were
homogenized with 5 mL of cold ethanol for 2 min with an ultraturrax.
Hexane (4 mL) was added and the resulting slurry was
mixed centrifuged and the top layer was removed to polypropylene
tube. The extraction was repeated again with 2.5 mL of saturated
NaCl and 4 mL hexane. Both resultant hexane fractions were
combined and used for saponification with 100 g/L methanolic KOH
overnight (Wright & Kader, 1997). The mixture was washed with
100 g/L NaCl and three washes with deionized water.