Concentrations of individual carotenoids and tocopherols were determined in abdominal adipose tissue from 19 adults undergoing corrective surgery. Samples were extracted and saponified before separation and quantitation of carotenoids and tocopherols by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Total carotenoid concentration varied 40-fold between individuals, from 0.34 to 13.51 micrograms/g adipose tissue. Beta-carotene and lycopene were the predominant carotenoids, averaging 20.2 and 18.5% of total carotenoids, respectively. In 10 of 19 subjects, the lycopene concentration exceeded that of beta-carotene. Total tocopherol concentrations varied 11-fold, with alpha-tocopherol representing 80.6 +/- 8.1% of the total. Absolute concentrations of both carotenoids and tocopherols were more variable than their relative concentrations. Both beta-carotene and lycopene concentrations were highly correlated with total carotenoid content but there was no correlation between beta-carotene and lycopene or between beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol concentrations.