Solubility and stability of lycopene are the main problems in extracting lycopene from tomato by-products. Lycopene is insoluble in water but soluble in highly toxic organic solvents such as benzene,chloroform, and dichloromethane; it also decomposes easily during storage. Development of the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method is one way scientists have worked to circumvent these problems. Separation for food products and medicine are limited by the requirement of low temperatures since the product usually has poor stability at high temperatures. Also, solvents must be nontoxic
and not remain as residue in the product. SFE is an extraction method which operates above the solvent’s critical pressure and temperature, enhancing the solvating power of the solvent. Carbon dioxide is a solvent frequently used in the SFE method due to its
low critical temperature, it being neither toxic nor flammable,
and its availability at low cost and high purity (Brunner, 1994).