Lycopene: From tomato to its nutraceutical use and its association with nanotechnology

Background: Lycopene, a red-colored carotenoid, has several biological properties, such as antioxidant, cardioprotective, antihypercholesterolemic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, photoprotector and anticancer, making desirable its use as nutraceutical. Despite the fact that it can be found in several foods, tomato deserves great prominence because it is the major extraction source and the cheapest raw material, being therefore the human most ingested source. Tomato also stands out for being the source where lycopene was first discovered. Scope and approach: This review article seeks to highlight the entire route that lycopene passes until its use as a nutraceutical, highlighting the main methods of extraction, concentration and quantification. Key findings and conclusions: Solvent extraction and super-critical fluid extraction, centrifugation and evaporation and HPLC and UV-vis spectrophotometer were the researchers most chosen methods of extraction, concentration and quantification, respectively. It also was noted that its association with nanotechnology is desirable to circumvent limitations related to its physicochemical characteristics that limit, not only its extraction process but also its nutraceutical use. (AU)