Preparation of Vesicles Entrapped Lycopene Extract

Lycopene, a lipophilic carotenoid, has been known as an effective antioxidant in supporting the cutaneous defensive system. However, it is unstable when exposed to light and water. In this study, lycopene was isolated from tomatoes and a vesicular delivery system was developed to entrap and stabilize the lycopene in the aqueous system. A simple process, maceration in ethyl acetate, was used to extract lycopene from the tomatoes. The extract was then chromatographed on the Sephadex LH20 column using acetone as a solvent system to yield 995 mu g of lycopene per gram of dried tomato weight. The vesicular delivery system was prepared from a combination of ascorbic acid-6-palmitate (AP), cholesterol and dicetyl phosphate using a thin film hydration method. The formulation was composed of AP, cholesterol and dicetyl phosphate at a 44:44:12 molar ratio and with 2.12 mu mol/ml of the isolated lycopene. Both blank vesicles and lycopene loaded vesicles were kept for a period of 3 months at 4 +/- 2 degrees C and at the room temperature (28 +/- 2 degrees) to evaluate the effect of the encapsulation on the characteristic of the vesicles and on the antioxidant activity of the encapsulated lycopene. The result implied that lycopene could be stabilized in the vesicles and its scavenging activity against DPPH free radicals was superior to that of the free lycopene solution.