Effects of cooking and extra virgin olive oil addition on bioaccessibility of carotenes in tomato sauce

Abstract

In this study, the effects of cooking and the addition of extra virgin olive oil on the in vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoidsin tomato sauce were evaluated. The results indicated that total antioxidant activity, α-tocopherol, lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, andchlorophyll a contents were positively affected by the combination of cooking and addition of extra virgin olive oil. Moreover, after invitro digestion, for intestinal phase, lycopene and β-carotene were observed in all samples, whereas α-tocopherol and chlorophyll a werenot detected in any of the samples. Lycopene (≈8.5-fold) and β-carotene (≈5-fold) were significantly improved (P < 0.05) by the effect ofcooking and addition of extra virgin olive oil to the samples compared to control tomato sauce (without oil and cooking).