Lycopene And Health : Growing Commercial Significance

Primarily the pigments are present in plants for photosynthesis, to capture the light of all hues.

Some are synthesized by the plant to assist in various other functions like attracting pollinators, repelling pest or for defense purposes. Lycopene is one of the pigments having its relevance and significance beyond the plant's life, particularly in human health. Lycopene is a tetraterpenic C40 carotenoid with a molecular weight of 536 Da and having very high antioxidant potential. It is a non- pro-vitamin A carotenoid, which has upto twice the antioxidant capacity of β- carotene (Bohm et al., 2002). Red coloured lycopene pigment was first discovered in tomato by Millardet in 1876 and was named by Schunck as lycopene. As far as physico-chemical properties of lycopene is concerned, both cis & trans isomeric forms of lycopene occur in nature. It has conjugated double bonds in 11 places and non-conjugated double bonds in two places. It is more stable in alkaline pH compared to acidic pH and is highly prone to oxidation. Tomato is a very important and abundant source of lycopene. In tomato 90% of it occurs as free crystal in protoplasm, and about 10% as complexes with proteins in the cells.

Significance of Lycopene in human health