Effects of Cooking Conditions on the Lycopene Content in Tomatoes

Raw tomato contains a high level of lycopene, which has been reported to have many important health benefits. However, information on the changes of the lycopene content in tomato during cooking is limited. In this study, the lycopene content in raw and thermally processed (baked, microwaved, and fried) tomato slurries was investigated and analyzed using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. In the thermal stability study using a pure lycopene standard, 50% of lycopene was degraded at 100 ◦C after 60 min, 125 ◦C after 20 min, and 150 ◦C after less than 10 min. Only 64.1% and 51.5% lycopene was retained when the tomato slurry was baked at 177 ◦C and 218 ◦C for 15 min, respectively. At these temperatures, only 37.3% and 25.1% of lycopene was retained after baking for 45 min. In 1 min of the high power of microwave heating, 64.4% of lycopene still remained. However, more degradation of lycopene in the slurry was found in the frying study. Only 36.6% and 35.5% of lycopene was retained after frying at 145 and 165 ◦C for 1 min, respectively.