Optimisation of biological and physical parameters for lycopene supercritical CO2 extraction from ordinary and high‐pigment tomato cultivars

BACKGROUND: Lycopene is used for several industrial applications. Supercritical CO₂ (SC‐CO₂) extraction from red‐ripe tomato fruits is an excellent technique to replace the use of harmful solvents. In this study, starting from red‐ripe tomatoes of ordinary and high‐lycopene cultivars, the effect of different agronomical and technical aspects on lycopene content, stability and yield was evaluated throughout the production process from fresh tomatoes to the final SC‐CO₂‐extracted oleoresin containing lycopene. RESULTS: Red‐ripe tomato cultivars differed in their lycopene content. Irrigation excess or deficit caused an increase in the amount of lycopene in the fruits. Fresh tomatoes were processed into a lyophilised matrix suitable for SC‐CO₂ extraction, which could be stored for more than 6 months at ? 20 °C without lycopene loss. Under the optimal extraction conditions, efficiencies of up to 80% were achieved, but the recovery of lycopene in the extracted oleoresin was very low (～24%). Co‐extraction of the tomato matrix mixed with a lipid co‐matrix allowed the recovery of ～90% of lycopene in the oleoresin. Using the high‐lycopene cultivars, the yield of total extracted lycopene increased by ～60% with respect to the ordinary cultivars. Lipids and other biologically active molecules were present in the oleoresin. CONCLUSION: A method for extracting, from a tomato matrix, a natural and solvent‐free oleoresin containing lycopene dissolved in a highly unsaturated vegetable oil has been described. The oleoresin represents an excellent product for testing on cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Variability in the content of soluble sugars and cell wall polysaccharides in red‐ripe cherry and high‐pigment tomato cultivars

BACKGROUND: Soluble sugars and cell wall polysaccharides are well known for contributing to a range of ‘quality’ characteristics of fresh vegetables such as flavour, texture and healthy properties. Red‐ripe berries of 14 cultivars of cherry tomatoes and four cultivars of high‐pigment tomato hybrids, cultivated in the south of Italy, were analysed for their content of these important qualitative parameters. RESULTS: Sakura appeared to be the cultivar with the highest amount of soluble sugars (53 g kg^?1 fresh weight (f.w.)), mainly glucose and fructose, and, hence the ‘sweetest’ among cherry tomatoes. High‐pigment tomatoes, especially HLY02 and HLY13, showed a soluble sugar content much lower than cherry tomatoes, as expected for industrial, normal‐size tomatoes. Variations in the fructose/glucose ratio, of between 0.68 and 1.48, were evidenced among the different tomato cultivars. Cell wall polysaccharides isolated from whole fresh red‐ripe berries of each cultivar were analysed chemically. The amount of matrix polysaccharides (0.9–3.4 g kg^?1 f.w.) and cellulose (0.16–1.86 g kg^?1 f.w.), as well as their glycosidic composition, showed significant differences among the different cultivars. Cellulose to matrix polysaccharide ratio was highly variable and ranged between 0.06–1.44 and 0.17–0.77 in cherry and high‐pigment tomato cultivars, respectively. CONCLUSION: The differences evidenced in the total soluble sugar and cell wall polysaccharide composition, not only among different types of tomatoes but also different cultivars within the same typology, may play a fundamental role in the quality of tomatoes and deserve further investigations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effectiveness of digitalis with or without acebutolol in preventing atrial arrhythmias after coronary artery surgery

In this study, a beta-adrenergic blocker in combination with digoxin provided marginal protection against atrial fibrillation/flutter after coronary artery surgery. The economic comparison of patients who did and did not develop atrial fibrillation/flutter indicates that prevention of these arrhythmias can have a significant impact on length of hospital stay and cost of this common surgical procedure.