Supercritical fluid extraction of lycopene from tomatos by using CO2 as a solvent: A review

Bhoomika A. Domadia and N. R.

Abstract

Supercritical fluid extraction by using CO2 as a solvent, a relatively new separation technique, can be used as a very efficient in course of analysis or preparation of many useful substance from many of the plant materials. The extracts from these materials are a good basis for the new pharmaceutical products& ingradients in functional foods. This paper deals with supercritical CO2 extraction of carotenoids which are present in natural plants. Lycopene is one of the most important& useful carotenoid found in vegetable or fruits. Due to its antioxidant capacity it can prevent almost all kind of cancers, coronary heart diseases & neurodegenerative diseases. The lycopene in dried and powdered tomato skins was extracted. In this study, process parameters in supercritical extraction such as pressure, temperature, solvent flow rate, particle size& time duration for extraction are presented and studied their learning effects on the yield & quality of extracts. Extracts were analyzed by HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) technique to determine total lycopene & trans-lycopene from total amount of yield.