Enhancement of lycopene bioaccessibility from tomato juice using excipient emulsions: Influence of lipid droplet size

The use of excipient emulsions to increase the bioaccessibility of lycopene in tomato juice was studied by simulating gastrointestinal conditions. The influence of droplet diameter (d=0.17 or 19μm) and thermal treatment (90°C, 10min) on lycopene bioaccessibility was evaluated. Lycopene bioaccessibility was relatively low (<8%) in the absence of excipient emulsions due to the crystalline nature of the carotenoids and their entrapment within chromoplasts. Emulsions containing small droplets were fully digested within the small intestine phase, and led to a higher bioaccessibility (12.5%) than emulsions containing large droplets (10.0%) or emulsion-free samples (7.5%). The relatively modest increase in bioaccessibility was attributed to the high level of entrapment in crystalline form. Thermal processing did not appreciably disrupt tomato cells, and therefore only led to a slight increase in lycopene bioaccessibility. Overall, this study shows that excipient emulsions may increase the bioaccessibility of carotenoids in tomato juices.