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Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid pigment found in tomatoes and other red fruits, and is the most common carotenoid in the human body. Its name is derived from the tomato's species classification, Lycopersicum lycopersicum. Ironically, the highest natural concentrations of lycopene in food are found not in tomatoes, but in watermelon.Due to its ubiquity, lycopene has been licensed for use as a food coloring. Research has shown it is a powerful antioxidant, with associated health benefits. The potency of lycopene as an antioxidant is increased by food processing. For example cooking tomatoes (as in the canning process) increases the bioavailability of lycopene and promotes isomerisation to antioxidant forms of the chemical.
Lycopene is not water- soluble and instantly stains any sufficiently porous material, including most plasticThe term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. Their name is derived from the fact that in their semi-liquid state they are mas. While a tomato stain can be fairly easily removed from fabricCloth or fabric is a flexible artificial material made up of a network of natural or artificial fibres ( thread or yarn) formed by weaving or knitting ( textiles), or pressed into felt. Cloth is most often used in the manufacture of clothing, household fu (provided the stain is fresh), discolored plastic defies all efforts to drive out the lycopene with hot water, soapThis article is about a common cleaning mixture. For other uses of the word Soap, see Soap (disambiguation). Soap is a surfactant cleaning mixture used for personal or minor cleaning. It usually comes in solid moulded form. In the developed world, synthet, or detergentA detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, whose molecules have two distinct regions—one that is hydrophilic, and dissolves easily in water, and another region that is hydrophobic, with little (if any) affinity for water. As a consequence, thes. ( BleachIn chemistry, to bleach something generally means to whiten it or oxidize it. A bleach is a chemical that exhibits these properties. Common chemical bleaches include sodium hypochlorite, or "chlorine bleach," and "oxygen bleach," which contains hydrogen p will destroy lycopene, however.) Plastics are especially susceptible to staining if heatCommonly, heat is estrus, a period of increased sexual drive in female mammals. For the National Basketball Association team, see Miami Heat. For the movie, see Heat (movie). Heat (abbreviated Q also called heat change is the transfer of thermal energy beed, scratched, oilOil is a generic term for fluids that are not miscible with water. The name comes from Latin oleum for olive oil. Oil is frequently used to refer to petroleum an "oil shortage" generally means an inadequate supply of petroleum rather than cooking oil.ed, or pitted by acidFor alternative meanings see acid (disambiguation). An acid (represented by the generic formula AH is typically a water-soluble, sour-tasting chemical compound. An acid always has a pH of less than 7. It is a molecule or ion that contains hydrogen or thats (such as those found in tomatoes).
The color of lycopene is due to its many conjugated double carbon bonds (known as chromophore s). Each double bond reduces the energy required for electrons to transition to higher energy states, allowing the molecule to absorb visible light of progressively longer wavelengths. Lycopene absorbs most of the visible spectrum, so it appears red.
If lycopene is oxidized (for example, by reacting with bleaches or acids), the double bonds between carbon atoms will be broken, cleaving the molecule into smaller molecules each double-bonded to an oxygen atom. Although C=O bonds are also chromophoric, the much shorter molecules are unable to absorb enough light to appear colorful. A similar effect occurs if lycopene is reduced; reduction may saturate and join lycopene molecules, converting the double bonds to single bonds as a result.
