Chapter 21 - Lycopene extraction from tomato waste assisted by cellulase and pectinase

Abstract

In Mexico the tomato market and industry generate day by day a big quantity of tomato waste, approximately 146,838T/year. Lycopene is a very valuable and important antioxidant that can be found in tomato and can be recovered efficiently with the use of enzymatic technology. The aim of this research was to evaluate the enzymatic extracting parameters for lycopene assisted by cellulase and pectinase. Five levels of temperature were evaluated (40, 45, 50, 55, and 60°C) and five pH values (4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0) for cellulase and for pectinase for a time reaction of 120min. A complete randomized design model with three replications per treatment was applied; the data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, and if differences existed among sample means were compared by Fisher's LSD test. The tomato waste was obtained from a local market then chopped and added in reactors of 100mL, at the same time the enzyme was added to the treatment and control reactor. The time reaction evaluated was from 0 to 120min taking samples every 10min with constant stirring and three different levels of temperature and pH previously established. After the enzyme's action a mixture of hexane:acetone was used and the amount of lycopene was measured spectrophotometric at 520nm. As a conclusion at 60°C, a pH=5, and a time reaction of 60min and using cellulase the amount of lycopene recovered from tomato waste was 0.93mg/g of fresh tissue, and for pectinase the amount recovered of lycopene from tomato waste was 0.48mg/g of fresh tissue at a pH=5, a temperature of 50°C, and a time reaction of 80min.