Lycopene extraction from tomato pomace with Supercritical carbon dioxide: Effect of pressures, temperatures and CO2 flow rates and evaluation of antioxidant activity and stability of lycopene

Abstract

Tomato fruits used in the production of tomato pomace were analyzed for the chemical composition such as total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, ash, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, ascorbic acid, total sugar, reducing sugars, fat content, total polyphenolic content; flavonoid content, lycopene content and total carotenoid. The experiments were carried out at pressures, temperatures and CO2 flow rates ranging from 1000 to 40000 psi, 40 to 80°C and 4 to 12 mL/min, respectively. The extracts were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and UV-visible spectroscopy. The results showed that with optimized operating conditions, the maximum recovery of 82.50% was obtained at 4000 psi, 80°C and 8 mL of CO2 /min. The recovery of lycopene increased with increases in pressure, temperature and CO2 flow rate. The decrease in the amount of lycopene as a function of storage time was followed and the effect of storage conditions on the recovery (%) of lycopene was tested with stability (%) 85 and 74% at 4°C and at room temperature, respectively.