Sixty commercially available and five experimental liquid chromatography columns were evaluated for the separation and recovery of seven carotenoid compounds. Methanol- and acetonitrile-based solvents (either straight or modified with ethyl acetate or tetrahydrofuran) were compared to determine which solvent systems and which columns provided better selectivity and recovery. Methanol-based solvents typically provided higher recoveries than did acetonitrile-based solvents. Polymeric C18 phases generally provided better selectivity for the difficult separation of lutein and zeaxanthin than did monomeric C18 phases.