Lycopene in Food Applications

In terms of product efficacy, according to regulations, ordinary food is not allowed to publicize its efficacy, while health food is only allowed to publicize its approved efficacy. The efficacy of existing lycopene health food products is antioxidant, immunity enhancement, and so on, and it does not involve the therapeutic effect of diseases. Dietary supplements contained in common foods can be labeled with the corresponding nutrients, such as lycopene.

Studies have found that lycopene can slow down the aging process by scavenging free radicals, enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and lowering the level of malondialdehyde. The antioxidant effect of lycopene makes it has the effect of preventing and delaying skin aging, reducing wrinkles and freckles, whitening. Lycopene is also effective in preventing and treating neurological diseases, inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells, preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and treating osteoporosis and other related diseases.

Lycopene can inhibit the growth of prostate cancer both in vivo and in vitro, and its mechanism may be through the inhibition of inflammation level in prostate cancer. Clinical studies have found that lycopene has a significant role in inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and supplementation of 7mg/d lycopene for 30d in patients with coronary artery disease can effectively reduce the content of 1gG in the body. Li et al. have found that supplementation of tomato juice containing 32.5mg of lycopene for 8 weeks per day in healthy young women has the effect of anti-obesity, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects.

Lycopene can be used as an ingredient in general food, health food and dietary supplements. Among them, lycopene is used as a food additive in common foods; health foods with lycopene added in China are labeled with a blue cap, and most of them are combined with vegetable oils to form soft capsules and publicize their health benefits; nutritional supplements with lycopene are mostly imported foods, which play a role in improving the health of the body and reducing the risk of diseases. In addition to the foods mentioned above, lycopene is also used in the pharmaceutical, animal feed and cosmetic industries.

• Health food

Lycopene products have become more widely known and consumed in response to the demand for nutritional health. Through the intake of exogenous nutrients or dietary supplementation, people can prevent cell damage by free radicals and enhance immunity. Research on the health benefits of lycopene is increasing to make it a more affordable health food.

Lycopene has a number of conjugated double bonds, high fat solubility, insoluble in water, poor thermal stability, and compared with fresh tomatoes, tomatoes processed through the oil, lycopene is more easily absorbed by the body, the utilization rate will be greatly increased, so some of the product ingredients to add lycopene oleoresin. The stability of lycopene in oleoresin is higher than that of purified lycopene, and lycopene oleoresin should minimize the presence of high-valent metal ions and oxygen, while avoiding light, acid, and reducing agent treatment.

In terms of product form, lycopene softgel capsules and microencapsulated lycopene powder are the main products. This is related to its special oxidizable structure, lycopene softgel capsules through the capsule shell protection, can prevent the degradation of lycopene, to avoid oxygen-mediated auto-oxidation reaction, to reduce the impact of light and air oxidation, in order to extend the shelf life.

• Dietary Supplements

Imported lycopene-related foods are usually called dietary supplements. In addition to the common lycopene softgel capsules, there are also lycopene tablets, which mainly use dietary fiber membrane wrapping technology to retain the stability and activity of lycopene. Dietary supplements are intended to provide nutritional supplements, which cannot replace the normal diet, and cannot produce any acute, subacute or chronic harm to the human body.

Foreign lycopene-related dietary supplements products publicize the efficacy of supporting prostate and heart health, maintaining male prostate health, helping cardiovascular antioxidant, etc., the products can not replace drugs, not for the purpose of treatment of disease.