Lycopene is one of the most abundant caroteinoids naturally occurring in red fruits and vegetables, especially tomato and its derivatives. It has potent antioxidant activity and can reduce risk of certain chronic diseases and cancers. A key limitation of lycopene use is that its intestinal absorption is far to be complete and highly variable depending on food processing. Consuming fat markedly ...

Oxidative stress has been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, and many carotenoids, including lycopene, potentially have antioxidant properties. The objective of this analysis was to explore the associations between serum lycopene concentrations, including lycopene isomers, and maternal-newborn outcomes. Maternal and cord blood samples were collected in 180 mother-infant pairs. Serum of ...

BACKGROUND Lycopene is the main carotenoid in tomatoes, where it is found in high concentrations. Strong epidemiological evidence suggests that lycopene may provide protection against cardiovascular diseases. We therefore studied the effects of lycopene on diet-induced increase in serum lipid levels and the initiation of atherosclerosis in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPA...

BACKGROUND Lycopene has been identified as a phytochemical with potentially protective health benefits. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to monitor lycopene changes in buccal mucosa cells (BMCs) in response to 3 vehicles for oral delivery of lycopene. DESIGN Fifteen healthy subjects ingested lycopene-rich tomato juice, tomato oleoresin, lycopene beadlets (each containing 70-75 mg lycopene) and a...

OBJECTIVE Studies show low correlations between dietary intake and serum concentrations of lycopene, which make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of dietary interventions with this phytonutrient. We hypothesized that 1) combining food-frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and 3-d diet records (3D-DRs) by the triads method would improve the validity of this relation and 2) correcting dietary in...

The degradation and/or isomerisation of lycopene have an important influence on its bioavailability and bioactivities. Existing studies have shown that the configuration profiles and stability of lycopene will be changed because of heat processing, but the relationship between the structure conversion of lycopene and the intensity of heat treatment is yet to be further studied. To simplify the ...

Lycopene is a carotenoid that has antioxidant properties and imparts the red pigment in some fruits and vegetables. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the predominant lycopene sources in a typical North American diet. Current methods to assay lycopene content in fruit are time consuming, expensive, and use hazardous organic solvents. Here, we report a method by which light absorba...

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...

BACKGROUND The antioxidant lycopene may be beneficial for patients with heart failure (HF). Processed tomato products are a major source of lycopene, although they are also high in sodium. Increased sodium intake may counter the positive antioxidant effect of lycopene. METHODS This was a prospective study of 212 patients with HF. Dietary intake of lycopene and sodium was obtained from weighte...

This study investigated how lycopene affected urotensin-II- (U-II-) induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and the possible implicated mechanisms. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to U-II (1 nM) either exclusively or following 6 h of lycopene pretreatment (1-10  μ M). The lycopene (3-10  μ M) pretreatment significantly inhibited the U-II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, decreased the produ...