Process for extracting lycopene

Abstract

A process for extracting lycopene, comprising the following steps: pressing and dehydrating tomato pomace which is the by-products of tomato processing production, then drying it to control the water content in the range from 10% to 20%; crushing the dried tomato pomace, and separating tomato skins and tomato seeds by air blast process, granulating the separated tomato skins and extracting them, then purifying by removing impurity from the extracted lycopene with active carbon. The process uses the by-products of tomato production as raw material, thus increasing the utilization ratio of tomatoes; the way of separating the seeds and skins after dehydrating and drying can save water and reduce the discharge of pollutant; the addition of antioxidant in the process of drying avoids the impact of high temperature on lycopene; extracting after granulating the tomato skins significantly increases the extracting efficiency; treating the extracting solution with active carbon effectively can remove the pesticide residues, impurities, odor etc., and thus increase the quality of lycopene.