Study On The Extraction Process Of Natural Lycopene From The Tomato Skin And Stability Of Lycopene

Lycopene is a straight-chained carotinoids composed of eleven conjugated and two non-conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds and is the intermediate for the biosynthesis of many carotinoids. It is a promising natural antioxidant. It can be widely used in pharmaceutical, premium cosmetics, health food, etc.Due to the use of different raw material, the methods of extraction and purification process are diversified and different from each other. China is prolific in the production of tomato, and obtaining lycopene from tomato is the major method. The planting of tomato and processing of tomato paste have become the agricultural backbone industry in Xinjiang, and the annual output of tomato paste is up to 400,000 tons, and occupied about 20% of the world total production. The tomato skin is the leftover in the production of tomato paste while the content of lycopene in tomato skin range from 10mg to 30mg per100g wet tomato skin.In this paper, the extraction process of lycopene with tomato skin as raw material has been studied. The study has developed the lycopene for food color and health care, and provides the reliable technology route and technical parameters for further industrialized production., and provides the foundation for developing further research.Firstly. The lycopene in the raw tomato skin is easily oxidized . The temperature, oxygen, sunlight and the shape of tomato skin can have bigger effect on the content of lycopene during the storage of tomato skin. The raw tomato skin should be stored at low temperature, away from light and oxygen, and in whole skin. Under such condition, after three months storage, the survival rate of lycopene in tomato skin is above to 95%.Secondly. The study has discussed process route for the extraction of lycopene from tomato skin and finally determined the process that the organic solvent extraction of lycopene is that the raw tomato skin was treated by ethanol to remove water and some impurities, and then lycopene could be easily extracted by solvent. The best conditions of extraction were determined for industrial production of lycopene.Thirdly. The study has discussed the preparation method for highly concentrated lycopene and initial purification of lycopene oleoresin by crystallization and recrystallization method to obtain lycopene with content of 17% finally.Fourthly. The study has discussed the method for protected lycopene. The dissociative lycopene is very easy to be oxidized. Exposure to oxygen, high temperature and low water activity may cause...