Abstract: 【Objective】To study the law of changes of the carotenoids contents at different stages in Fructus Lycii of Lycium barbarum L., and the method was studied for the determination of caotenoids in the Fructus.【Method】The composition of the pigments at different stages was analyzed by UV absorption spectrum. Then the pigments was separated and identified by TLC and HPLC.【Result】The method of TLC was simple, fast, it is one of the means of pigments quality mensuration in the Fructus. A simultaneous determination of carotenoids, carotenoid esters and chlorophyll in the Fructus by HPLC in 30 min was developed, it was also used in quantitative and qualitative analysis. With maturation of Fructus Lycii，the content of zeaxanthin dipalmitate increased and became the principal pigment, β-?carotene did not change obviously, and from green fruit stage to green mature stage the content of ?zeaxanthin decreased, then held stable until red mature stage. 【Conclusion】It was found that with maturation of Lycium barbarum L., the content of total carotenoids increased, the diversification of the contents mainly resulted from the increase of zeaxanthin dipalmitate.

Key words: Lycium barbarum L., Carotenoids, UV-vis spectrophotometry, TLC, HPLC