Lycopene
What it does
Red colour; antioxidant.
How it's made
Extracted from tomatoes or synthesised.
Lycopene is the natural red pigment that makes tomatoes red, also found in watermelon and pink grapefruit. As a food colour it provides red shades, and like other carotenoids it is fat-soluble and acts as an antioxidant.
It is obtained mainly by extracting ripe tomatoes (or tomato processing by-products) with food-grade solvents that dissolve the red pigment out of the fruit; it can also be produced by fermentation using certain microbes, or synthesised. The tomato extract is filtered and concentrated, and the solvent removed, to give a red colour concentrate.
The lycopene is purified and standardised, and because it does not dissolve in water it is supplied in oil-based or water-dispersible forms. As a naturally occurring pigment, it is used where a plant-derived red is preferred, in products such as drinks, sauces and confectionery.
Possible reactions
Generally safe.