Samples were subjected to simulated human gastric and pan-
creatic digestion based on the method described by Miller,
Schricker, Rasmussen, and Van Campen (1981), with modifica-
tions to optimise carotenoid availability as described by Garrett,
Failla and Sarama (1999). Briefly, to 1 g of finely chopped
vegetable sample was added 200 ul ascorbic acid (150 mM) and
9.8 ml saline (0.9%) and the pH adjusted to 2.0 with 5 M HCl.
One ml of pepsin solution (20 mg/ml in 0.1 M HCl) was then
added and the sample tubes filled with nitrogen and incubated at
37 °C for 60 min with gentle shaking. The pH was then adjusted
to about 5 with 1 M NaHCO3 followed by the addition of bile/
pancreatin solution (3 ml, containing 50 mg pancreatin and
300 mg bile in 35 ml 0.1 M NaHCO3). The pH was adjusted to
7.0 and the sample tubes were filled with nitrogen and incubated
as before for 2 h.