Beta-carotene suppression of benzophenone-sensitized lipid peroxidation in hexane through additional chain-breaking activities

The aim of this work is to estimate the antioxidant activity of β-carotene in the presence of two different mixtures of phospholipids in hexane solution, under continuous UV-irradiation from three different ranges (UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C). β-Carotene is employed to control lipid peroxidation process generated by UV-irradiation, in the presence and in the absence of selected photosensitizer, benzophenone, by scavenging the involved, created free radicals. The results show that β-carotene undergoes to a substantial, probably structural dependent destruction (bleaching), highly dependent on UV-photons energy input, more expressed in the presence than in the absence of benzophenone. The additional bleaching is synchronized with the further increase in β-carotene antioxidant activity in the presence of benzophenone, implying the same cause: increase in (phospholipids peroxidation) chain-breaking activities.