Amelioration of Noodles' Nutritional Values via Nano-Encapsulation of Extracted Lycopene from Tomato Waste

Abstract

The by-product of tomato processing contains seeds and peels. Tomato lycopene is a potential antioxidant sensitive to heat and light and protects against chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease when applied to a food additive. This problem can be addressed by extraction with SCF-CO2 and encapsulation using sodium alginate. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of adding an extract and encapsulating lycopene extract from tomato waste on noodles' antioxidant properties and sensory acceptability. The sensory and physicochemical characteristics of the dried noodles were evaluated. Total phenols, flavonoids, FRAP, ABTS scavenging, and DPPH radical scavenging activities were used to determine antioxidant activities in extracted lycopene and nano-encapsulated. Lycopene nanoencapsulated had the highest level of FRAP content (459.33 μg/mg) and extracted lycopene had the lowest level (349 μg/mg), respectively. The encapsulated lycopene sample improves sensory qualities particularly the color of the noodles. The sample that contained nano-encapsulated lycopene had the highest sensory score for color, 9.23, whereas the sample that contained extracted lycopene scored 9.02 and the control sample scored 8.72. This shows that the processing did not negatively affect the encapsulated sample. These results indicate that the produced nano-capsules may be used in the food industry as potential ingredients in developing functional foods to improve health benefits. Thus, tomato waste powder may be a cheap source of functional noodles and food items.