Estimation of daily intake of lycopene, antioxidant contents and activities from tomatoes, watermelons, and their processed products in Korea

Hyunjeong Park,Youngjae Shin,Young-Jun Kim

doi:10.1186/s13765-020-00534-w

Hyunjeong Park, Youngjae Shin + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13765-020-00534-w

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Abstract

Tomatoes, watermelons, and processed tomato products contain abundant antioxidant compounds, including lycopene. In spite of the interest in the role of lycopene, little is known about the contribution of tomatoes and tomato products commonly consumed in Korea to the intake of lycopene. In this study, the daily per capita intake values of lycopene and antioxidant compounds and activities of tomatoes, watermelons, and their processed products in Korea were estimated. The daily per capita intake values of lycopene from raw tomatoes, watermelons, tomato ketchup, and tomato juice were measured to be 1.07, 0.54, 0.26, and 0.08 mg/capita/day, respectively. The average lycopene intake of male and female were 1.98 and 1.92 mg/capita/day, respectively. The daily per capita intake value of total phenolics was highest in raw tomatoes (7.21 mg/capita/day), followed by watermelons (1.72 mg/capita/day), tomato ketchup (1.41 mg/capita/day), and tomato juice (0.80 mg/capita/day). The daily per capita intake value of total antioxidant activities also showed a similar pattern to total phenolic results. The overall daily per capita intake of antioxidant content and activities was affected by both the daily per capita intake of each product and the levels of antioxidant content and activities of each product. The daily per capita intake of these products in Korea is currently considerably low, compared to the U.S. and Europe. Thus, an adequate consumption of lycopene-rich products is recommended.

Highlights

As nutrition improved at the national level, the problems related to nutrient deficiency decreased; the western dietary pattern has caused nutritional imbalance to emerge, along with various chronic diseases, such as hypertension, cancer, and diabetes [1]
According to the study by Hallmann [24] on the bioactive compounds in different types of tomatoes, the total flavonoid content of cherry tomatoes was 98.54 ± 8.22 mg/100 g in dry weight (DW), while that of common tomatoes was 59.20 ± 7.65 mg/100 g in DW, which agrees with the results of this study
Processed tomato products showed 2–16 times higher flavonoid content compared to raw tomatoes

Summary

Introduction

As nutrition improved at the national level, the problems related to nutrient deficiency decreased; the western dietary pattern has caused nutritional imbalance to emerge, along with various chronic diseases, such as hypertension, cancer, and diabetes [1]. No studies have estimated the Korean daily per capita intake of antioxidant compounds and activities, such as those of lycopene, that are present in tomatoes, watermelons, and their processed products. Based on the findings, the daily per capita intake values of lycopene and antioxidant compounds and activities of tomatoes, watermelons, and their processed products in Korea were estimated.

Results

Conclusion