LYCOPENE DETERMINATION IN TOMATOES BY DIFFERENT SPECTRAL TECHNIQUES (UV-VIS, FTIR AND HPLC)

Lycopene is one of the most important and useful carotenoids found in nature, and a potent antioxidant that has been shown to play critical role in cancer prevention. It were studied 26 types of tomato powder samples, using different analytical methods. UV-VIS spectrophotometry showed the absorption peaks of carotenoids from these tomato powder samples in order to identify the sample with the highest lycopene concentration. FTIR spectroscopy was used to quantify lycopene content in tomatoes varieties and showed a distinct vibration band at 957 cm(-1) assigned to a trans CH deformation vibration of lycopene. The lycopene content accurately and reproducibly with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996. Results have been compared with HPLC chromatography. The outcome of the study shows that the FTIR method is a good analytical method for quantification of lycopene in tomatoes.