3.2. Bioactive compounds
3.2.1. Carotenoids
Carotenoids are pigments that give off red to yellow colours.Data on the carotenoid contents of the fruits in this study are lim-ited. All fruits contained predominantly lutein (approximately 70%), followed by b-carotene and a-carotene. In contrast, lycopene was not detected in any of the fruits. The highest carotenoid con- tent was found in A. velutinosum Blume compared to the other fruits (Table 3). Moreover, A. velutinosum Blume is the only fruit that displays different colours depending on maturity (from green, to red and dark purple).