Lycopene
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).
Structure and chemistry
Lycopene is a terpene assembled from 8 isoprene units.
The color of lycopene is due to its many conjugated carbon double bonds. Each double bond reduces the energy required for electrons to transition to higher energy states, allowing the molecule to absorb visible light of progressively longer wavelengths. Lycopene absorbs most of the visible spectrum, so it appears red.
If lycopene is oxidized (for example, by reacting with bleaches or acids), the double bonds between carbon atoms will be broken, cleaving the molecule into smaller molecules each double-bonded to an oxygen atom. Although C=O bonds are also chromophoric, the much shorter molecules are unable to absorb enough light to appear colorful. A similar effect occurs if lycopene is reduced; reduction may saturate (convert the double bonds to single bonds) the lycopene molecule, diminishing its ability to absorb light.
Dietary sources
Fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene include tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, 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. Thus processed tomato products such as pasteurized tomato juice, soup, sauce, and ketchup contain the highest concentrations of bioavailable lycopene. Because lycopene is so insoluble in water and is so tightly bound to vegetable fiber, the bioavailability of lycopene is increased by food processing. 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.
Production
Lycopene may be obtained from vegetables such as tomato, but another source of lycopene is the fungus Blakeslea trispora.
Manufacturer and Bulk Supplier
For Lycopene combinations in capsule form on competitive rates please contact:
ionhealthcare@sify.com
Nutritional benefits
Lycopene is the most powerful carotenoid quencher of singlet oxygen.[1] Singlet oxygen produced during exposure to ultraviolet light is a primary cause of skin aging.[2]
Given its antioxidant properties some scientific research has investigated the correlation between lycopene consumption and general health. Early research suggested some amelioration of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and even male infertility.[3] [4][5]. The most recent study however has cast significant doubt on these benefits, and suggests that it can have deleterious effects, particularly with respect to prostate cancer[6].
Food coloring
Due to its ubiquity, lycopene has been licensed for use as a food coloring.
Lycopene is not water-soluble and instantly stains any sufficiently porous material, including most plastics. While a tomato stain can be fairly easily removed from fabric (provided the stain is fresh), lycopene diffuses into plastic, making it impossible to remove with hot water, soap, or detergent. (Bleach will destroy lycopene, however.) Plastics are especially susceptible to staining if heated, scratched, oiled, or pitted, for example by acids.
Brands
LYCORICH, HEMOGEN, LYCOMOON, LYNET
References
- ^ Di Mascio P, Kaiser S, Sies H (1989). "Lycopene as the most efficient biological carotenoid singlet oxygen quencher". Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 274 (2): 532–538. PMID 2802626.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Berneburg M, Grether-Beck S, Kurten V, Ruzicka T, Briviba K, Sies H, Krutmann J (1999). "Singlet oxygen mediates the UVA-induced generation of the photoaging-associated mitochondrial common deletion". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 274 (22): 15345–15349. PMID 10336420.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Giovannucci, E.; et al. (1995). "Intake of Carotenoids and Retinol in Relation to Risk of Prostrate Cancer". Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Bowen P, Chen L, Stacewicz-Sapuntzakis M, Duncan C, Sharifi R, Ghosh L, Kim HS, Christov-Tzelkov K, van Breemen R (2002). "Tomato sauce supplementation and prostate cancer: lycopene accumulation and modulation of biomarkers of carcinogenesis". Experimental Biology and Medicine. 227 (10): 886–893. PMID 12424330.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/3086013.stm" BBC News - 22 July 2003
- ^ American Association for Cancer Research (May 17, 2007). "No Magic Tomato? Study Breaks Link between Lycopene and Prostate Cancer Prevention".
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- Gerster, H. The potential role of lycopene for human health. J. Amer. Coll. Nutr. 16: 109–126, 1997
- Stahl, W. and Sies, H. lycopene: a biologically important carotenoid for humans? Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 336: 1–9, 1996