Lycopene is a kind of carotene and red pigment in plant food. Dark red acicular crystal, soluble in chloroform, benzene and oil, but insoluble in water. It is unstable to light and oxygen and turns brown when encountering iron. Molecular formula C40H56, relative molecular weight 536.85. There are 11 conjugated double bonds and 2 non conjugated double bonds in the molecular structure, which is a straight chain hydrocarbon. There is no physiological activity of vitamin A, but it has strong Antioxidant function. The content of mature red plant fruits is higher, especially in tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, papaya and guava. It can be used as pigment in food processing and as raw material of antioxidant health food.
Brief Introduction
Lycopene is widely found in tomatoes, tomato products, watermelon, grapefruit and other fruits. It is not only the main pigment in mature tomatoes, but also one of the common carotenoids. In 1989, mascio found that lycopene had the highest quenching activity of singlet oxygen among all carotenoids. Subsequently, the research on the function of lycopene has become a hot spot. The research content involves the absorption and metabolism of lycopene, the reduction of the risk of prostate cancer and other tumors and cardiovascular diseases, as well as the extraction and determination methods of lycopene. At present, lycopene has been widely used not only as a natural pigment, but also in functional foods, drugs and cosmetics.
Biological Action
Protect Skin
Lycopene also has the function of reducing skin damage by radiation or ultraviolet (UV). When UV irradiates the skin, lycopene in the skin combines with the free radicals produced by UV to protect the skin tissue from damage. Compared with the skin without UV irradiation, lycopene is reduced by 31% ~ 46%, and the content of other components is almost unchanged. Studies have shown that eating foods rich in lycopene can resist UV and avoid erythema caused by UV irradiation. Lycopene can also quench free radicals in epidermal cells and has obvious fading effect on senile color spots.
Develop Immunity From Disease Lycopene can activate immune cells, protect phagocytes from their own oxidative damage, promote the proliferation of T and B lymphocytes, stimulate the function of effector T cells, promote the production of some interleukin and inhibit the production of inflammatory mediators. The study found that taking medium dose lycopene capsule can improve human immunity and reduce the damage of acute exercise to human immunity.
Health products and sports supplements
Gnpd data show that there are 177 new supplements containing lycopene in the world. The State Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) can find that there are 31 kinds of lycopene health products obtained from Guoshi Jianzi, including 2 kinds of imported health products, and the others are domestic health products. These 31 kinds of health products are mainly used for anti-oxidation, anti-aging, enhancing immunity, regulating blood lipids, etc., of which 2 are tablets, 1 is oil, and the rest are capsules.
Cosmetics
Gnpd data show that there are 81 new skin care products containing lycopene and 51 cosmetics. Typical products, such as lycopene moisturizing lotion, have whitening and anti-aging effects. The domestic product has the lycopene whitening essence smear needle, has the antioxidation, the allergy, the whitening effect.
Food and beverage
In the field of food and beverage, lycopene has obtained the approval of "novel food" in Europe and the status of Gras (usually considered safe) in the United States, among which non-alcoholic beverages are the most popular. Gnpd data show that there are 20 new products: 7 in bread, breakfast cereal and other fields; 7 kinds of processed meat, fish and eggs; 7 kinds of dairy products; 6 kinds of chocolate and candy; 5 kinds of sauces and seasonings; Dessert and ice cream 5 kinds. Its application in dairy products not only maintains the nutrition of dairy products, but also enriches its health care function.
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