Lycopene

Lycopene is the major carotenoid in tomatoes and is responsible for the red color in fruits (Sies and Stahl, 1998). Lycopene is an acyclic carotenoid and belongs to a subgroup of carotenes that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms. It has been suggested that lycopene has beneficial health properties, is an antioxidant, and influences the communication between cells and cell growth.

Lycopene is found in relatively few foods, and more than 80 percent of lycopene consumption in the United States comes from tomatoes. It is present in fresh tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, tomato sauces and pastes, tomato soup, tomato powder, tomato juice, sun-dried tomatoes, pizza sauce and ketchup. Other foods which contain lycopene include apricots, pink grapefruit, guava, papaya and watermelon, though these fruits contain it in much lower amounts than tomatoes.

C. Explanation of the possibility of lycopene role in cancer prevention.

Although there is mounting evidence from around the world that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of several types of cancer, whether or not carotenoids are actually involved remains unclear (Clinton, 1998). Few studies have been carried out so far with lycopene. Most studies have relied on questionnaires of people's dietary habits rather than actual studies where strict controls can be implemented. Lyco

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Adrenal 1.9(0.2-5.6) 21.6 Liver 1.3(0.1-4.1 2.5 5.4(0-20.7) Prostate 0.8(0.1-7) Adipose 0.2(0-0.5) 13 Breast 0.8 Pancreas 0.7 Lung 0.6(0.1-4.2) 0.2 Kidney 0.2(0.1-0.3) 0.4 0.6(1-2.4) Ovary 0.3(0.1-0.4) 0.3 Stomach 0.2 Adapted from Clinton (1998). V. Lycopene: Antioxidant and its biological effects in the human. A. Antioxidant activities of lycopene. The proposed health benefits of lycopene may be due to its antioxidant properties (Clinton, 1998). Singlet oxygen is not itself a free radical, but it is one of the reactants which results in the production of hydroxyl radicals, which react rapidly with macromolecules and can produce severe damage to proteins, lipids and DNA. Carotenoids can quench singlet oxygen molecules, and lycopene has been shown to be the most effective carotenoid for this process. The quenching capacity of carotenoids depends on the number of conjugated double bonds they contain, and this is why lycopene is so effective. The quenching can occur through physical or chemical means, though most of it occurs through physical
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