Enzyme-Assisted Production of Tomato Seed Oil Enriched with Lycopene from Tomato Pomace

Abstract

Large amounts of a waste known as tomato pomace and consisting mainly of the fruit peel and seeds are generated annually from the industrial processing of tomatoes. This material is rich in lycopene, a phytochemical with antioxidant and chemopreventive properties, and contains many valuable nutrients. In this study, we have investigated the possibility of using the whole waste to produce a lycopene-enriched seed oil. The oil was obtained by cold-pressing the seeds and was subsequently enriched in lycopene (up to 500 ppm) by incorporation of a tomato oleoresin derived from the peels. To increase lycopene recovery, the peels were pretreated with cell-wall-degrading enzymes and solvent extracted. This procedure allowed the production of about 25 kg/ton oleoresin with an average lycopene content of 6.8 wt.%. The compositional characteristics of the oil combined with the production of significant amounts of oleoresin strongly support the use of tomato pomace for producing lycopene-based functional products.