Extraction of lycopene from tomato processing waste: Kinetics and modelling

Lycopene, a nutraceutical compound, was extracted from tomato processing waste, an abundantly available food industry by-product in Italy. The extraction kinetics was mathematically described using the first order kinetic model, the mass transfer model and Peleg's model to understand the physicochemical behaviour of the extraction. Samples were extracted using acetone/n-hexane mixtures at different ratios (1:3, 2:2 and 3:1, v/v) and at different temperatures (30, 40 and 50°C) and simultaneously analysed using UV-VIS spectrophotometry. The lycopene yield was in the range 3.47-4.03 mg/100 g, which corresponds to a percentage recovery of 65.22-75.75. All kinetic models gave a good fit to the experimental data, but the best one was Peleg's model, having the highest RAdj2 and the lowest RMSE, MBE and χ2 values. All the models confirmed that a temperature of 30°C and solvent mixture of acetone/n-hexane 1:3 (v/v) provided optimal conditions for extraction of lycopene.