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 increases efficiency of lycopene absorption, while other dietary components may reduce lycopene bioavailability. Heat treatment is quite effective in improving lycopene bioaccessibility by breaking down food matrix without affecting its content. High power ultrasound treatments of tomato pulp markedly decrease lycopene bioaccessibility, possibly due to lycopene entrapment in a stronger pectin network. This study reviews lycopene bioaccessibility and bioavailability from processed foods.
