Supercritical CO2 extraction of lycopene from pink grapefruit (Citrus paradise Macfad) and its degradation studies during storage

Abstract

Lycopene was extracted from pink grapefruit using SC‐CO2 and rice bran oil as co‐solvent. Response surface methodology was employed to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of three process parameters varied at five levels i.e. pressure (250, 300, 375, 450 & 500 bar), temperature (55, 60, 70, 80 & 85 °C), and extraction time (60, 90, 135, 180 & 210 min). Single optimum point for multiple response variables was achieved at 325 bar, 64 °C, and 143 min with overall desirability of 0.92 at which 70.52 ± 3.65% (lycopene extraction efficiency) and 11154 ± 148 ppm (γ‐oryzanol) were predicted. Extraction temperatures of more than 80 °C and time beyond 180 min led to the isomerization of lycopene. Lycopene storage at 3 °C, 10 °C, & 25 °C showed average k and half‐life values as 0.018, 0.030, & 0.075 and 40, 23, & 9 days, respectively for first‐order degradation kinetics; depicting faster degradation at higher storage temperatures.