Abstract
The enrichment of oils with nutraceutical bioactive phytomolecules allows the achievement of functional oil-based products of great interest in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic fields. Carotenoids, such as lycopene and β-carotene, are available at a high concentration in tomatoes and tomato waste products, as peels, seeds, and pulp; their recovery is recently attracting growing interest and economic importance in the food industry, and also in consideration of the huge amount of industrial waste produced. The aim of this work is to study the production of an oil functionalized with carotenoids from tomato peels. The extractions were carried out using an innovative process based on the use of commercial Norflurane as solvent in subcritical conditions. Extraction trials were performed on dried tomato peels, with the addition of tomato seeds or wheat germ flour as sources of oily co-solvents, capable of also preserving the biological characteristics of the carotenoids extracted. Although lycopene solubility in Norflurane is quite low, the solvent recirculation and regeneration were allowed to reach a concentration in the oily extracts of approximately 0.3 mg/goil after 2 h of the process. The enrichment in β-carotene was more pronounced, and concentrations of 0.733 mg/goil and 0.952 mg/goil were observed in wheat germ and tomato seed oils, respectively. The results obtained in this study were compared with those obtained by traditional and supercritical CO2 extraction methods.
Highlights
Tomato represents one of the most known vegetables in the world, and it is a precious source of nutrients such as lycopene, proteins, organic acids, vitamins, and many other beneficial compounds [1] that are present in the seeds, rich in proteins and oils, and skins, rich in dietary fibers and lycopene
It is possible to evaluate the reuse of this tomato pomace, which could be converted into useful resources: this principle is at the base of bioeconomy, which finds industrial application in bio-refinery
To respect the principles of bioeconomy, tomato wastes are currently reused for animal feeding or as fertilizers, and they have been proposed to produce different products, such as chemicals biocatalysts, biopolymers suitable for different applications and energy production [4]
Summary
Tomato represents one of the most known vegetables in the world, and it is a precious source of nutrients such as lycopene, proteins, organic acids, vitamins, and many other beneficial compounds [1] that are present in the seeds, rich in proteins and oils, and skins, rich in dietary fibers and lycopene. 5.4–9 × 106 tons, it being understood that this information is quite difficult to census The management of these wastes represents a significant environmental and economic issue for the industry: it is an unavoidable and extremely important problem and can lead to two possible solutions: disposal or reuse. Disposal must be performed properly, since the pomace is mainly composed of water and nutrients and, it could deteriorate, giving rise to a source of pollution for the environment, as well as being a waste of resources. These wastes can impact negatively on the environment since they are a potential source of methane, a gas that negatively contributes to global warming [3]. Low amounts of other carotenoids such α-γ-and ε-carotenes, phytoene, phytofluene, neurosporene, and lutein are present [6]
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