How to Make Lycopene Extract

Lycopene is used as a nutritional food additive as well as to naturally add red or orange color to foods. Pectinace is an enzyme that helps to make the lycopene soluble and available to extract from the tomato. It is a natural product that is derived from fruits and vegetables, most often apples. The skin of the tomato is the richest in lycopene, however because it is kept in small pockets in the skin, it is difficult and time consuming to extract.

Things You'll Need

• 10 Roma tomatoes
• 5 qt. pot
• Paring knife
• Slotted spoon
• Large container
• 2 medium to large jars with lids
• Aqueous Pectinace in 40 percent glycerol
• Hexane
• Ethanol
• Acetone
• Thermometer
• Turkey baster
• Small jar, or baby food jar

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Instructions

• 1

  Fill the 5 qt. pot with water and place it on the stove on high to boil.

• 2

  Fill the large container half-full of ice and add water to the ice to fill the container, making an ice bath.

• 3

  Make an X cut with the paring knife on the small end of the tomato, opposite the large core where it attached to the stem.

• 4

  Place the tomatoes in the 5 qt. pot once the water is boiling. Allow them to cook for two minutes.

• 5

  Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water with the slotted spoon and place them in the ice bath. Allow the tomatoes to sit in the ice bath for five minutes.

• 6

  Peel the skin off of the tomatoes, pulling from the corners of the X that was cut into the bottom core down the tomato. The skin should come off in no more than four whole pieces.

• 7

  Spread the tomato peels in a single layer on a sheet pan and place the sheet pan in the oven at 200 degrees for five minutes to remove the moisture from the peels.

• 8

  Place the tomato peels in the jar and add 2 tbsp. of hexane and 1 tbsp. each of ethanol and acetone. Swirl this mixture around in the jar to mix well. Tightly screw the lid on the jar and allow it to sit in a cool dry place for one hour, swirling every 10 minutes to mix.

• 9

  Empty the ice water from the container previously used for the ice bath and refill the container with room temperature water. Place this in a warm place, on top of the stove or on the counter in the sun. Take the water temperature with the thermometer. The temperature should read 75 degrees Fahrenheit, or slightly warmer. Add warm water if necessary until the water reaches 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 10

  Remove the tomato peels from the jar, leaving the hexane solution in the jar, and put the tomato peels into the other medium to large jar.

• 11

  Add 1/4 tsp. of pectinace to the jar and 1/8 tsp. hexane to the jar. Tightly close the jar and swirl the mixture around in the jar for about one minute. Place the jar in the 75 degree water and allow it to sit for 20 hours. Swirl the jar and monitor the temperature of the water every 15 minutes.

• 12

  Remove the jar from the water and do not swirl. At the end of the 20 hours, the jar will now have two separate layers, with a red colored liquid on top and liquid with solids at the bottom. If you do not see two layers, allow the jar to sit on a solid surface for five minutes to allow the layers to form.

• 13

  Remove the layer off of the top of the jar very gently with the turkey baster, being sure not to agitate and suck up any of the bottom layer. Place the contents from the top layer into a small jar. This solution is lycopene extract, containing 75 percent lycopene and 25 percent tomato oil, fatty acids, acylglycerols, phosphorous compounds and phospholipids. Use the lycopene extract in drops to add as a natural supplement or coloring to foods.