Microwave-assisted extraction, encapsulation, and bioaccessibility of carotenoids from organic tomato industry by-product

Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) is a widely consumed fruit in the world. Discarded biomass has a huge potential, as tomato peel is rich in carotenoid content. This study focuses on the recovery of carotenoids from tomato industry agro-wastes, specifically peel and seeds. Initially, the conventional method was employed to analyze the sample, determining a total carotenoid content of 3.19 +/- 0.23 mg I3 -carotene eq/g dry matter. A carotenoid profiling of the sample revealed high concentration of 5- cis- lycopene (1340.1 +/- 15.6 mu g all -trans - I3 -carotene eq/g dry matter), 9 -cis lycopene (1062.7 +/- 12.8 mu g all -trans - I3 -carotene eq/g dry matter) and all - trans - I3 -carotene (1246.4 +/- 1.7 mu g all -trans - I3 -carotene eq/g dry matter). Microwave -assisted extraction (MAE) was employed as a green extraction method to optimize biomass -solvent ratio (BSR), extraction time (ET), and microwave power (MP) for achieving maximum recovery of carotenoids. A surface response methodology based on a Box-Behnken design was used. The optimized extract (BSR 1:10 g:mL, ET 60 s, and MP 283.84 W) was microencapsulated using maltodextrin (MD) combined with either gum arabic (GA) or whey protein isolate (WP) as wall materials. Freeze-drying was utilized for capsule sealing. The properties of the encapsulates were characterized, including moisture content (0.99 +/- 0.04% for MD:GA and 0.80 +/- 0.07% for MD:WP), water activity (0.087 +/- 0.01 for MD: GA and 0.084 +/- 0.01 for MD:WP), dissolution rate (140.4 1 +/- 6.41 s for MD:GA and 86.49 +/- 1.68 s for MD:WP), tapped density (0.48 +/- 0.01 g/mL for MD:GA and 0.44 +/- 0.01 g/mL for MD:WP), drying yield (90.73 +/- 3.34% for MD:GA and 89.73 +/- 3.47% for MD:WP), and encapsulation efficiency (68.12 +/- 1.42% for MD:GA and 74.55 +/- 1.62% for MD:WP). Bioaccessibility studies for encapsulated extract revealed values of 27.68% +/- 0.72 and 25.10% +/- 0.04 for MD:GA and MD: WP, respectively. This research highlights the potential of tomato agrowastes as a valuable source of bioactive compounds. The implementation of MAE and microencapsulation techniques demonstrates effective strategies for their recovery and preservation obtaining the optimal conditions for the MAE (BSR 1:10 g: mL, ET 60 s, and MP 283.84 W) and for the encapsulation (MD: WP mixture). These findings contribute to the valorization of tomato industry by-products and their potential application in functional food products.