Lycopene is an important plant nutrient that exerts strong antioxidant activity. It is naturally present in various food stuffs and responsible for providing colours (especially red and pink) to them as it is a pigment too. Consumption of lycopene rich food is very beneficial for health as it offers numerous nutritional benefits.

Chemistry

• It is an unsaturated hydrocarbon carotenoid
• It is bright red in colour
• It has the formula of C₄₀H₅₆
• It is composed of large polyene chain, which contains 35 to 40 carbon atoms within it
• It is generally found in photosynthetic living organism, whereas lycopene (carotenoid) may also found in animal cell, where it acts as strong antioxidant

Source

Lycopene is found in various fruits as well as in vegetables and also found in several supplements. It is always better to consume lycopene from natural sources as it does not cause any toxicity whereas excessive consumption of supplements may develop various health complications.

Foods, which are rich in lycopene are listed below –

• Tomato (sun dried tomato or fresh tomato or tomato puree or canned tomato)
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Pink grapefruit
• Rep pepper (sweet)
• Persimmon
• Guava
• Asparagus
• Red Cabbage
• Mangos

Biological activity

Antioxidant activity

• It has strong antioxidant activity and helps to decrease oxidative stress within body
• Free radicals are considered as the main components responsible for causing cellular damages that ultimately develop several health complications like cancers, cardiovascular diseases and hyperglycemia. Lycopene helps to decrease the risk of developing these types of degenerative disorders by reducing the concentration of free radicals within body
• It also helps to scavenge hypochlorous acid hence helps to protect the body from its harmful consequences
• It helps to prevent lipid peroxidation as well, which helps to decrease the prevalence of oxidative damages

Anti-inflammatory activity

• Consumption of lycopene is very useful for preventing inflammation, swelling as well as pain
• It plays imperative role in inhibiting inflammation by inducing programmed cell death within activated immune cells
• It is also associated with inhibiting the activity of pro-inflammatory mediators in body that helps to delay the onset of inflammatory events

Anti-carcinogenic activity

• It has strong anti-carcinogenic activity as well, which helps to protect the body from  the harmful effects of carcinogens

• Lycopene is associated with suppressing the growth of tumor cells within body
• It also helps to slow down the growth of cancerous cells and helps to prevent metastasis
• It has seen that consumption of lycopene is very much helpful for decreasing the prevalence of prostate, bone, lungs, colon, rectal and breast cancers

Antimicrobial activity

• It exerts potent antimicrobial activities thus helps to protect the body from the harmful consequences of infectious diseases
• It has seen that it is especially very effective against Bacillus substilis

Health benefits

Effect on cardio vascular system

• It is used as an effective therapeutic agent for inhibiting the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases

• It has strong hypolipidemic activity, which is associated with decreasing the concentration of triglyceride, LDL and VLDL in body hence decreases the prevalence of fat deposition within blood vessels thus reduces the occurrence of atherosclerosis, which is considered as one of the leading cause of cardiac disorders
• It helps to increase the level of HDL as well and also maintains a good ratio of HDL and LDL within body that helps to provide a positive impact on cardiac health
• It is associated with reducing the prevalence of clot formation within blood vessels (as it prevents atherosclerosis) thus lessen the susceptibility of heart attacks and strokes

• It also helps to maintain the blood pressure in normal range

Effect on skeletal system

• It helps to promote the overall growth as well as the functionality of skeletal system
• It helps to enhance the strength and mass of bone
• It is also associated with preventing the death of bone cells thus helps to keep the bone strong and healthy

Effect on eye

• It helps to protect the eyes from oxidative damages and aids in promoting vision
• Consumption of lycopene is very effective for reducing the risk of developing various eye disorders like it decreases the prevalence of cataract, maculer degeneration etc

Effect on nervous system

• It plays important role in promoting the functionality of nervous system
• It has seen that lycopene helps to protect the nerve cells from oxidative damages thus promotes their activity hence decreases the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders
• Its consumption is very effective for improving the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
• It helps to inhibit seizures as well
• It also helps to prevent age related memory loss

Effect on skin

• Consumption of lycopene is very effective for promoting skin health
• It has seen that prolong consumption of lycopene is associated with reducing the risk of developing skin cancer
• It also helps to protect the skin from the UV light
• It helps to improve skin elasticity by promoting the synthesis of procollagen within skin
• It plays significant role for repairing skin damages
• Its antioxidant activity is also responsible for preventing oxidative damages of the skin and also prevents ageing

Effect on reproductive system

• It plays imperative role in preventing male infertility
• It has seen that consumption of lycopene is related with increasing the quality of sperm as well as sperm count and improves the male fertility about 40%

Lycopene supplements

• Individuals who are not getting lycopene through diet they can consume lycopene supplements as lycopene is also widely available in supplemented form
• It is better to consult with health experts for determining the dose of lycopene supplements, as over consumption of these type of supplements exert various side effects

General consideration of using lycopene

• 10mg of lycopene can be consumed with healthy diet per day
• It is better to consume lycopene with healthy fats like coconut oil or olive oil, as lycopene is better absorbed when it is consumed with fat

• It has seen that consumption of roasted red pepper or spaghetti sauces or tomato soup or poached egg with tomato sauce or creamy carrot soup or even cooked carrot is associated with providing adequate amount of lycopene to the body

Risk factors

• Though consumption of lycopene from food is absolutely safe but prolong consumption of lycopene supplements are not good for health as it may cause various health complications

• While consuming lycopene supplements, it should be kept in mind that it may interfere with some medications like hypotensive medicines and blood thinner medicines. So individuals who are on these type of medicines should consult with physicians before consuming lycopene supplements
• It is better for pregnant women to avoid the consumption of lycopene supplements as it may increase the prevalence of preterm labour, whereas pregnant women can consume lycopene from food sources because lycopene, which is obtained from natural sources are completely safe and have no side effects
• Lactating women should also avoid the consumption of lycopene supplements
• It has seen that excessive consumption of lycopene is responsible for developing lycopenemia. Lycopenemia is an abnormal skin condition characterized by red or orange discoloration of skin

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