Abstract:

Lycopene, a red, fat-soluble carotenoid, is widely distributed in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Epidemiological,
tissue culture and animal studies provide convincing evidence supporting the anti-oxidant capacity of lycopene and its role in
reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Therefore, lycopene is widely used in medicines, health foods, food
additives and cosmetics. Lycopene is an important indicator in the evaluation of the quality of a variety tomatoes, tomato
products, health care products and medicines. Meanwhile, determination of lycopene will be essential prerequisite to further
study the mechanisms of action and metabolism of lycopene in human tissues and organs. In this paper, we review the recent
progress in the determination of lycopene in a variety of fruits, tomato products, lycopene extracts, lycopene-containing
foods serum and tissues.

Key words: lycopene, analysis, carotenoid, spectroscopy, chromatography