lycopene

Active Ingredient: lycopene

Specification: 5%, 6%, 10%

Test Method: UV-VIS

Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid pigment, a phytochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruits.
Lycopene is the most common carotenoid in the human body and is one of the most potent carotenoid antioxidants. Its name is derived from the tomato's species classification, Solanum lycopersicum (formerly Lycopersicon esculentum).

Fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene include tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, red bell pepper, gac, and rosehip.

Unlike other fruits and vegetables, where nutritional content such as vitamin C is diminished upon cooking, processing of tomatoes increases the concentration of bioavailable lycopene. Lycopene in tomato paste is four times more bioavailable than in fresh tomatoes. This is because lycopene is so insoluble in water and is so tightly bound to vegetable fiber.

Thus processed tomato products such as pasteurized tomato juice, soup, sauce, and ketchup contain the highest concentrations of bioavailable lycopene. Cooking and crushing tomatoes (as in the canning process) and serving in oil-rich dishes (such as spaghetti sauce or pizza) greatly increases assimilation from the digestive tract into the bloodstream.

Lycopene is fat-soluble, so the oil is said to help absorption.Lycopene may be obtained from vegetables and fruits such as the tomato, but another source of lycopene is the fungus Blakeslea trispora.