Carotenoid compounds in embryos of wild-type(WT) and viviparous mutants of maize(Zea mays L.) were analyzed using high performance liquid ehromatography (HPLC) with a photodiode array detector. Zeaxanthin accumulates in WT embryos as the major carotenoid. Phytoene accumulates in vp2 and vp5. Phytofluene in w3 and ${xi}$-carotene in the vp9 mutant embryos. This indicates that the vp2 and vp5 mutants impair phytoene desaturase from 15-cis-phytoene to 15-cis-phytofluene. The w3 mutant has neither an isomerase from 15-cis-phytofluene to all-trans-phytofuene nor phytofluene desaturase from phytofluene to ${xi}$-carotene. The vp9 mutant does not have the ${xi}$-carotene desaturase from ${xi}$-carotene to lycopene. Our analysis shows that the terminal carotenoid. ${gamma}$-carotene(${eta},{Psi}$-carotene), accumulates in the vp7 mutant embryos. The ${varepsilon}$-carotene(${varepsilon},{varepsilon}$-carotene), a product of ${delta}$-carotene(${varepsilon},{Psi}$-carotene) in some plants, however, has not been found in maize embryos. The vp7 mutant impairs a cyclization step from ${gamma}$-carotene to both ${eta}$-carotene and ${alpha}$-carotene. We suggest that monocyclic ${gamma}$-carotene is the sole precursor of both bicyclic ${eta}$-carotene(${eta},{eta}$-carotene) and ${alpha}$-carotene(${eta},{varepsilon}$-carotene) in maize.