Valuable Natural Antioxidant Products Recovered from Tomatoes by Green Extraction

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Natural Product Chemistry
• Green Chemistry

Background:

• Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants like lycopene and beta-carotene, beneficial for health.
• Efficient extraction methods are needed to harness these compounds for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify optimal extraction conditions for recovering valuable compounds from tomato pomace.
• To evaluate the quality and economic feasibility of different extraction methods.

Main Methods:

• Supercritical CO2 extraction, Soxhlet extraction, and solvent extraction were employed.
• Extracts were analyzed using UV-VIS, FT-IR, GC-MS, Folin-Ciocalteu, and DPPH assays.
• Process scalability and economic viability were assessed.

Main Results:

• Supercritical CO2 extraction at 450 bar and 70 °C yielded the highest quality oleoresin.
• This extract contained 1016.94 mg/100g lycopene and 154.87 mg/100g beta-carotene.
• Supercritical extraction proved most profitable, especially at higher capacities, valorizing tomato waste.

Conclusions:

• Supercritical CO2 extraction is an effective and economically viable method for producing high-value antioxidant extracts from tomato pomace.
• This approach promotes the valorization of food industry by-products.