n-Hexane (from Sigma–Aldrich) was used as organic solvent to
extract the lycopene from the gac aril. 10 g of de-freezed gac aril
(weighed by a Precisa PJ3100CD balance) were mixed with Fontainebleau
sand before being dispersed in solvent (300 ml). This
paste of sand-gac aril was stirred in hexane with a magnetic bar
in an Erlenmeyer flask at room temperature (under 25 C) in the
dark for 15 min. The solvent process was repeated about 6 times
until the aril material lost its colour. After extraction, hexane was
removed from the fraction containing lycopene by rotary evaporation
under reduced pressure at 35 C. The extracted lycopene was
stored at 20 C before experiments.
2