A SIMPLE METHOD FOR THE ISOLATION OF LYCOPENE FROM LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM

The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and effective method using conventional solvent extraction and anti-solvent precipitation for the isolation of lycopene from Lycopersicon esculentum. A total of 100 grams of freeze-dried L. esculentum powder was weighed into a glass tube with a glass filter at the bottom. The material was extracted for 1 hour using 1 L of the following solvents: hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol. The extraction yields were 3.58, 4.39, and 1.25 mg/g, respectively, indicating that ethyl acetate was the most effective of the studied extraction solvents. Next, all carotenoids, except lycopene, were removed from the crude extract using an anti-solvent (methanol) salting-out method. The precipitated and isolated lycopene totaled 3.50 mg/g, indicating a 77.43% lycopene recovery rate. The lycopene isolation method developed in this study was more effective than the previous reported methods for the large-scale preparative isolation of lycopene.