Production of a lycopene-enriched fraction from tomato pomace using supercritical carbon dioxide

In recent years there has been a growing interest in functional foods because they may provide beneficial effects on human health. Moreover, the increasing interest of consumers in functional foods has brought about a rise in demand for ingredients obtained using technologies perceived to be natural and safe. In this study, supercritical fluid technology was used in order to obtain lycopene from an extract of dried tomato pomace using sunflower oil and ethanol. After the supercritical fluid fractionation, four fractions were collected, three separated fraction (SF) from the separator (after 30, 60 and 120 min of fractionation) and one residual fraction (RF) from the bottom of column (after 120 min). The concentration of lycopene was studied in the different fractions obtained under different pressures (10 and 30 MPa), CO2 flow rates (5 and 15 kg h−1), and heights of loading (top and bottom). The quantitative determination of lycopene was performed by HPLC coupled with a diode array detector. The effects of the different extraction parameters, as well as their interactions, were investigated using a full factorial design with three factors and two levels; the optimal conditions were calculated through response surface methodology. A statistically significant difference in lycopene content in the four fractions was obtained.