Sabio et al. (2003) studied SC-CO2 extraction of lycopene and b-carotene
from tomato skins and seeds at pressures of 25 and 30 MPa, temperatures
of 60 and 80 C, and flow rates of 0.792 and 1.35 kg/h.
The results suggested that SC-CO2 extraction with relatively higher
pressure (30 MPa) and temperature (80 C) at the lower flow rate
allowed the highest recovery, 80% of the total lycopene and 88%
of b-carotene. Vasapollo et al. (2004) described that the presence
of vegetable oil as cosolvent improved the yields and contributed
to the stability of lycopene. Gómez-Prieto, Caja, Herraiz, and
Santa-Maria (2003) studied the optimum conditions for obtaining
the most stable isomer (all-trans form) of lycopene, and found it
to be 40 C. However, these studies estimated only one factor at
a time, and thus, the interactions of factors were ignored.