Lycopene extraction from tomato peel by-product containing tomato seed using supercritical carbon dioxide Original Research Article

This work discusses the extraction of lycopene from tomato peel by-product containing tomato seed using supercritical carbon dioxide. The presence of tomato seed in the peel by-product improved the yield of extracted lycopene. Extraction was carried out at temperatures of 70–90 °C, pressures of 20–40 MPa, a particle size of 1.05 ± 0.10 mm and flow rates of 2–4 mL/min of CO2 for 180 min extraction time. Oil from tomato seed was extracted under similar operating conditions and analyzed using GC–MS and GC–FID, while carotenoids extracted were analyzed by HPLC. The optimum operating condition to extract lycopene, under which 56% of lycopene was extracted, was found to be 90 °C, 40 MPa, and a ratio of tomato peel to seed of 37/63. The presence of tomato seed oil helped to improve the recovery of lycopene from 18% to 56%. The concentration of lycopene in supercritical carbon dioxide as a function of density at various temperatures was determined.