Extraction of Lycopene from Tomato
Extraction of lycopene from tomato
1. INTRODUCTION
Lycopene, as an important natural pigment, has many biological activities and is widely used in food, medicine and other fields. It is of great significance for efficient extraction of lycopene from tomato.
2. Extraction raw materials and preparation
1. ** Raw materials **: Tomatoes with high maturity and bright color are selected as raw materials for lycopene extraction. The content of lycopene in such tomatoes is relatively high.
2. ** Equipment and reagents **: Preparation grinder, centrifuge, rotary evaporator, Soxhlet extractor and other equipment. Prepare petroleum ether, ethanol, acetone and other organic solvents, as well as related analytical detection reagents.
III. Extraction Method
1. ** Organic Solvent Extraction Method **
- After washing and drying the tomatoes, beat them into a homogenate with a grinder.
- Take an appropriate amount of homogenate and place it in a Soxhlet extractor, and add an appropriate amount of petroleum ether as an extraction solvent. Extract at a certain temperature for a certain period of time by reflux. In this process, lycopene is dissolved in petroleum ether due to the principle of similar miscibility.
- After the extraction is completed, transfer the extract to a rotary evaporator, concentrate it at an appropriate temperature and vacuum degree, recover the organic solvent, and obtain the crude extract of lycopene.
2. ** Supercritical Fluid Extraction Method **
- The tomato raw materials are pretreated and loaded into the extraction kettle.
- Carbon dioxide is used as the supercritical fluid to adjust the extraction pressure, temperature, flow rate and other parameters. In the supercritical state, carbon dioxide has good solubility to lycopene, so as to realize the extraction of lycopene.
- The extracted mixed fluid enters the separation kettle. By reducing the pressure or increasing the temperature, carbon dioxide is separated from lycopene to obtain the lycopene product.
IV. Evaluation of Extraction Effect
1. ** Determination of Content **: The content of lycopene in the extraction product was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Using standard lycopene as the reference substance, draw the standard curve, and calculate the lycopene content according to the peak area of the sample.
2. ** Purity analysis **: The purity of the extracted lycopene is detected by thin layer chromatography (TLC) or other purity analysis methods to judge the removal of impurities during the extraction process.
V. CONCLUSION
Different extraction methods have different extraction effects on lycopene in tomato. The operation of the organic solvent extraction method is relatively simple, but there are problems such as organic solvent residues; supercritical fluid extraction method has the advantages of high efficiency and environmental protection, but the equipment cost is high. In practical applications, it is necessary to choose the appropriate extraction method according to the specific needs and conditions to achieve the efficient extraction and utilization of lycopene.
