Lycopene and β-Carotene Extraction from Tomato Processing Waste Using Supercritical CO₂

Abstract

Tomato skins and their mixtures with seeds were submitted to supercritical CO2 extraction using a flow apparatus at pressures of 250 and 300 bar and temperatures of 60 and 80 °C. Two different mean particle sizes (80 and 345 μm) were used at two solvent flow rates (0.792 and 1.35 kg/h). The yields of lipids, lycopene, and β-carotene obtained by supercritical fluid extraction were compared with those obtained by conventional organic solvent extraction. Supercritical fluid extraction from tomato skins at 300 bar and 80 °C allowed the recovery of 80% of the lycopene and 88% of the β-carotene, using about 130 g of CO2 per gram of matrix at the lower flow rate of CO2.