Estimation of Lycopene and Beta-Carotene Contents in Different Tomato Plant Tissues

Present study succeeded in induced the callus from hypocotyledon stem segments of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings and produced its cultures then differentiated to vegetative shoot. The extraction and estimation of the lycopene and beta-carotene contents of these tissues were followed. The results indicated that callus was inducible from these segments on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.0 mg L^-1  2,4- Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) after 7 days at 100%, with aggregate formed on the segments and then it's become large in size after 12 days, its separated and transferred to a medium with the same components above producing callus cultures due to the rapid and continuous division of cells. What distinguished in study was the spontaneous differentiation of vegetative shoot from callus after the second subculture at a rate of 85%. The methods of preparing the extracts proved successful and the quantities of lycopene and beta-carotene were estimated. The best tissue in their produced was the callus, which reached 3.615 mg100 g^-1 and 1.301 mg 100 g^-1 at the third hour of extraction, respectively.