**2. Sources and function of lycopene**

Animals and humans do to not synthesize lycopene, and thus depend on dietary sources. Tomatoes and tomato products are the major dietary sources of lycopene. Other sources include watermelon, pink grapefruit, apricots, pink guava and papaya (Willis & Wians, 2003). Lycopene is the most abundant carotenoid in ripe tomatoes, comprising approximately 80-90% of the pigments present. The amount of lycopene in fresh tomatoes depends on the variety, maturity, and environmental conditions in which the fruit matures (Shi, 2000).

© 2012 Basuny, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2012 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


**Table 1.** shows the lycopene content of tomatoes, some commonly consumed tomato products and other lycopene containing fruits and vegetables.

Lycopene is also widely distributed in the human body. It is one of the major carotenoids found in the human serum (between 21 and 43% of total carotenoids) with plasma levels ranging from 0.22 to 1.06 nmol/ml (Cohen, 2002). It is also found in various tissues throughout the body such as the liver, kidney, adrenal glands, tests, ovaries and the prostate gland (Basu & Imrhan, 2006). Unlike other carotenoids like α-and β-carotene, lycopene lacks the β.:onone rang structure common to other carotenooids (Agarwal & Rao, 2000). Although it lacks provitamine an activity, lycopene is known to be a potent antioxidant (Livny *et al.,* 2002). Reactive oxygen (ROS) species have been implicated in playing a major role in the causation and progression of several chronic diseases. These ROS are highly reactive oxidant molecules that are generated endogenously through regular metabolic activity. They react with cellular components, causing oxidative damage to such critical cellular biomolecules as lipids, proteins and DNA. Antioxidants are protective agents that inactive ROS and therefore, significantly delay or prevent oxidative damage associated with chronic disease risk. Lycopene is one of the most potent antioxidants among the dietary carotenoids and may help lower the risk of chronic diseases including cancer and heart disease.
