Carotenoid stability and lipid oxidation during storage of low-fat carrot and tomato based systems

•Thermal processing improves the nutritional quality of carrot and tomato-based products.•Lipid-containing tomato and carrot purees were stable when stored in the dark at 20, 30 and 40 °C.•Lycopene, α- and β-carotene bioaccessibility remained unaffected by storage.•Color remained unaffected by storage.

Thermally processed (F0 = 5min, process temperature 117 °C) tomato and carrot purees containing 5% olive oil were stored in the dark at 20, 30 and 40 °C for 6 months and investigated for carotenoids and lipid stability. Lipid oxidation (peroxide value and hexanal) and carotenoids (lycopene, α- and β-carotene) were analyzed and monitored during storage. Carotenoid bioaccessibility of the samples during storage was also studied. Under the storage conditions studied, the samples did not undergo significant lipid oxidation. Moreover, carotenoid bioaccessibility remained (P > 0.05) unaffected by storage. Regardless of storage temperature, carotenoids were stable with a retention of ≥98% and color (L*, a*, b* and ΔE) changes were imperceptible after 6 months. The results suggests that through formulation and careful selection of processing and storage conditions, carotenoid stability in lipid-containing fruit- and vegetable-based foods can potentially be guaranteed. This can be important to define optimal control measures to favor carotenoid stability and acceptable organoleptic properties during the storage of similar foods.