Serum concentrations of retinol, alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and lycopene were measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (r-P HPLC) in 260 randomly selected healthy adult Kuwaitis (159 men and 101 women) aged 18-63 years (mean 33.3 years) to established reference ranges of the micronutrient antioxidants. Total cholesterol concentrations were assayed by an enzymatic m...

The tomato processing industry generates large quantities of tomato peel residues, usually creating environmental problems. These residues are a significant source of lycopene, thus providing an attractive alternative for profitable handling of these otherwise problematic by-products. The enzymatic pretreatment of these residues for lycopene recovery has already been employed, although the use ...

AIMS Male infertility has been associated with imbalance in the polyunsaturated fatty acids arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid (AA/DHA) ratio. This study aimed to assess whether use of the potent antioxidant, lycopene, would affect this imbalance in seminal plasma and to test whether modulation of the AA/DHA ratio correlates with male fertility. METHODS The study included 44 males from inf...

Lycopene cyclases cyclize the open ends of acyclic lycopene (ψ,ψ-carotene) into β- or ε-ionone rings in the crucial bifurcation step of carotenoid biosynthesis. Among all carotenoid constituents, β-carotene (β,β-carotene) is found in all photosynthetic organisms, except for purple bacteria and heliobacteria, suggesting a ubiquitous distribution of lycopene β-cyclase activity in these organisms....

Supercritical fluid extraction of all-E-lycopene from tomato industrial wastes (mixture of skins and seeds) was carried out in a semi-continuous flow apparatus using ethane as supercritical solvent. The effect of pressure, temperature, feed particle size, solvent superficial velocity and matrix initial composition was evaluated. Moreover, the yield of the extraction was compared with that obtai...

Consumption of tomato products is associated with a decreased risk of developing prostate cancer, and lycopene, the red carotenoid in the tomato, is a potent antioxidant that might contribute to this chemoprevention activity. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 105 African American men veterans, recommended for prostate biopsy to detect cancer, was carried out to investigate...

Lycopene belongs to a group of naturally-occurring pigments known as carotenoids. Carotenoids are colored compounds found in the photosynthetic pigments of fruits and vegetables which provide them their bright colors and benefit human health by playing an important role in cell function. Red fruits and vegetables, including tomato-based products are the major sources of lycopene. Oxidative stre...

OBJECTIVE To investigate a possible protective role of lycopene on adriamycin (ADR)-induced spermiotoxicity using quantitative, biochemical and histopathological approaches. DESIGN Experimental study. SETTING Firat University Medical School, Experimental Research Centre, Elazig, Turkey. ANIMALS Twenty four Sprague Dawley rats (8-weeks old) INTERVENTION(S) Adriamycin (10 mg kg(-1)) was i...

BACKGROUND/AIM Lycopene, which is suggested to be a potent antioxidant, may play a protective role in diseases related to oxidative stress. In order to understand the effects of lycopene in the pathogenesis of cholestasis, we investigated the effects of lycopene on oxidative stress parameters and DNA damage induced by experimental biliary obstruction in the liver tissues and the lymphocytes of ...

We investigated the effects of a potent antioxidant, lycopene, on the free radical-scavenging activity as evaluated by the DPPH test and lipid peroxidation in rat brain homogenates as well as nitric oxide (NO) formation in cultured microglia stimulated by lipopolysaccharide. In addition, we also investigated the therapeutic effect of lycopene in attenuating ischemia/reperfusion brain injury ind...