Lycopene in tomatoes and tomato products

Danuta Górecka,Agata Wawrzyniak,Jarosław Walkowiak,Krzysztof Dziedzic,Przemysław Łukasz Kowalczewski,Anna Jędrusek-Golińska,Jadwiga Hamułka

doi:10.1515/chem-2020-0050

Abstract

AbstractThis article focused on the content of lycopene in fresh and dried tomatoes and tomato pomace, as well as in tomato paste at different harvest times (harvest 1 – August and harvest 2 – September). The lycopene content of tomatoes and tomato products was evaluated by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the highest content of lycopene was estimated in the tomato paste independent of the time of harvest (211.73 mg/100 g dm in August and 184.29 mg/100 g dm in September) and the lowest content in fresh pomace (20.45 and 16.11 mg/100 g dm in August and September, respectively). Good sources of lycopene are tomato by-products, in particularly dried tomato pomace (25.11 mg/100 g dm – harvest 1 and 19.30 mg/100 g dm – harvest 2). This study showed that tomato waste can be considered as a promising source of lycopene for the production of functional foods.

Highlights

Lycopene is a major dietary carotenoid protecting cells against oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA [1,2].It is present almost exclusively in tomato and tomato-based products
Dried tomatoes harvested in August (118.10 mg/100 g product) had the highest lycopene content (Table 1)
The lowest lycopene content was found in fresh tomatoes, regardless of the date of harvest (3.35 mg/ 100 g of product harvested in August and 2.54 mg/100 g of product harvested in September)

Summary

Introduction

Lycopene is a major dietary carotenoid protecting cells against oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA [1,2].It is present almost exclusively in tomato and tomato-based products. The by-products of tomatoes, especially tomato pomace, are an important source of functional food ingredients such as dietary fiber, β-carotene, lycopene, phenolic acids (ellagic and chlorogenic acids), and flavonoids (rutin and myricetin) [8,9,10,11,12]. They are known as potential factors in decreasing the serum level of oxidative stress biomarkers. Several epidemiological studies have associated the increased consumption of tomato-based products and lycopene with the decreased prostate cancer risk [6,19]. Giovannucci [20] found that the consumption of tomatoes and tomato products was inversely related to the risk of cancers, most prominently, cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach

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Results