Supercritical fluid extraction of lycopene from tomato processing byproducts

Tomato seeds and skins acquired from the byproduct of a local tomato processing facility were studied for supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of phytochemicals. The extracts were analyzed for lycopene, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and delta-tocopherol content using high-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection and compared to a chemically extracted control. SFEs were carried out using CO(2) at seven temperatures (32-86 degrees C) and six pressures (13.78-48.26 MPa). The effect of CO(2) flow rate and volume also was investigated. The results indicated that the percentage of lycopene extracted increased with elevated temperature and pressure until a maximum recovery of 38.8% was reached at 86 degrees C and 34.47 MPa, after which the amount of lycopene extracted decreased. Conditions for the optimum extraction of lycopene from 3 g of raw material were determined to be 86 degrees C, 34.47 MPa, and 500 mL of CO(2) at a flow rate of 2.5 mL/min. These conditions resulted in the extraction of 61.0% of the lycopene (7.19 microg lycopene/g).