The regulation of plant carotenogenesis is an active research area for both biological discovery and practical implementation. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), we demonstrate additional bottlenecks exist in the poly-cis-transformation of phytoene to lycopene in the context of ripening-induced PSY1 expression and activity and reveal phytoene desaturase (PDS), as a target for manipulation toward...

A great interest has recently been focused on lycopene and β-carotene, because of their antioxidant action in the organism. Red-flesh watermelon is one of the main sources of lycopene as the most abundant carotenoid. The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in post-harvesting has permitted us to rapidly quantify lycopene, β-carotene, and total soluble solids (TSS) on single intact fruits. W...

Nonenzymatic glycation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) is a reaction of glucose and other reducing sugars with apolipoprotein B100 (apo-B100) lysine residues. In diabetes, this reaction is greatly accelerated and is important in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. The objective of this study was to investigate in vitro effects of ?-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and lycopene on LDL glycatio...

Although several studies have indicated that (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and lycopene, representative dietary antioxidants, inhibit chemically induced animal tumorigenesis, only a few studies have examined the inhibitory effects of these compounds on spontaneous liver tumorigenesis in rodents. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of these compounds on the formation of s...

Excessive amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause a state of oxidative stress, which result in sperm membrane lipid peroxidation, DNA damage and apoptosis, leading to decreased sperm viability and motility. Elevated levels of ROS are a major cause of idiopathic male factor infertility, which is an increasingly common problem today. Lycopene, the most potent singlet oxygen quencher of all...

Health benefits of lycopene from tomato products have been suggested to be related to its antioxidant activity. Dietary fat may influence the absorption and hence the plasma levels and antioxidant activity of lycopene. In the present study, we have compared the effect of consumption of tomato products with extra-virgin olive oil vs. tomato products plus sunflower oil on plasma lycopene and anti...

The present study was designed to evaluate the modulatory effects of lycopene against 7, 12 Dimethylbenz (a) anthracene induced clastogenicity and oxidative stress in male Balb/c mice. The animals were divided into four groups; group I served as control (vehicle treated). Animals of group III and IV were administered lycopene orally at a dose of 4 mg/kg body weight for 10 weeks. Groups II and I...

Free radicals increase in the presence of diabetes. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of diabetes on rat ovaries and the protective role of lycopene in that context. Experimental diabetes was induced with 50 mg÷kg streptozotocin. Rats were randomly separated into four groups, as follows: control + corn oil, control + lycopene, diabetes...

Prior investigations on the beneficial effect of dietary processed tomato products and lycopene on prostate cancer risk suggested that lycopene may require the presence of other constituents to exert its chemopreventive potential. We investigated whether ketosamines, a group of carbohydrate derivatives present in dehydrated tomato products, may interact with lycopene against prostate tumorigene...

Blakeslea trispora is a good alternative source for producing such carotenoids as lycopene and β-carotene. The objective of this research was to elaborate a method for the simultaneous determination of lycopene and β-carotene in Blakeslea trispora products using a usual UV-vis spectrophotometer. The standard solutions of the mixture of different concentrations of β-carotene and lycopene were me...