Principal component analysis of some parameters used for lycopene extraction from tomatoes

The present research is on the study of lycopene extraction from different raw and processed tomatoes, using traditional extraction methods with several solvents. The influences of the temperature and the light exposure were taken into consideration. The best extraction lycopene levels were obtained when chloroform:methanol mixture was used as solvent, followed by the hexane:acetone mixture and ethanol 95%. The lycopene is better extracted at room temperature compared with refrigeration and freezing temperatures. Lyophilized tomatoes contained the highest amount of lycopene (14.11 mg/100 g), followed by dried tomatoes with 6.01 mg/100 g, tomato juice with 11.38 mg/100 g, and the fresh tomatoes with 4.13 mg/100 g.