Optimisation of biological and physical parameters for lycopene supercritical CO2 extraction from ordinary and high-pigment tomato cultivars

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Abstract

Lycopene is used for several industrial applications. Supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) extraction from red-ripe tomatofruits is an excellent technique to replace the use of harmful solvents. In this study, starting from red-ripe tomatoes of ordinaryand high-lycopene cultivars, the effect of different agronomical and technical aspects on lycopene content, stability and yieldwas evaluated throughout the production process from fresh tomatoes to the final SC-CO2-extracted oleoresin containinglycopene.RESULTS: Red-ripe tomato cultivars differed in their lycopene content. Irrigation excess or deficit caused an increase in theamount of lycopene in the fruits. Fresh tomatoeswere processed into a lyophilised matrix suitable for SC-CO2 extraction,whichcould be stored for more than 6months at -20 oC without lycopene loss. Under the optimal extraction conditions, efficienciesof up to 80% were achieved, but the recovery of lycopene in the extracted oleoresin was very low (~24%). Co-extraction of thetomato matrix mixedwith a lipid co-matrix allowed the recovery of~90% of lycopene in the oleoresin. Using the high-lycopenecultivars, the yield of total extracted lycopene increased by ~60% with respect to the ordinary cultivars. Lipids and otherbiologically active molecules were present in the oleoresin.CONCLUSION: A method for extracting, from a tomato matrix, a natural and solvent-free oleoresin containing lycopenedissolved in a highly unsaturated vegetable oil has been described. The oleoresin represents an excellent product for testingon cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention.

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  • Lenucci M.S.; Caccioppola A.; Durante M.; Serrone L.; Leonardo R.; Piro G.; Dalessandro G.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Journal of the science of food and agriculture

Anno di pubblicazione

2010

ISSN

1097-0010

ISBN

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